Two Lives One Love
by Schizzar
Summary: ShinjixIchigo fic. Ichigo is your typical jock who has a secret. Shinji is the freshman at college and is a total music geek. OOC. And maybe...they aren't who they always thought...Rated M for language, violence, and lemons.
1. Chapter 1

**It saddens me that there are no Shinji and Ichigo fanfictions. So I took it upon myself to write one. I do not own Bleach. If I did, Ikkaku and Yumichika would be dating and Yachiru would have an awesome bankai!**

"Ichigo, you coming to the club tonight?" called Renji as he bounced the black and white soccer ball from knee to knee.

It was four thirty and practice was almost over though Renji appeared to have the same energy he had going in to practice. His red hair was held in a leather band and the intricate black tattoos that covered his face made him appear angry even though he wasn't. Both Ichigo and Renji had a thin sheen of sweat on their skin though neither seemed bothered by it.

"I'm not one for clubs Renji. You know that," Ichigo replied as Renji let the ball begin to drop before slamming his foot into it.

The ball curved towards Ichigo and Ichigo lashed his foot into it, cursing when the ball went spinning in the wrong direction. He cursed again when a pained cry came from the left indicating he had hit someone.

He turned and ran towards his accidental victim, apologizing at a high speed rate. The man he had hit was barely eighteen as well and had extremely straight blond hair. He was rubbing his arm which was already starting to bruise.

"I'm really sorry man," Ichigo apologized again as he helped him pick up the case that had been dropped and opened onto the ground. Various wooden reeds and sheet music were strewn about and in the case, undamaged, lay a beautiful golden saxophone.

"It's fine. Don't worry," the man mumbled, quickly stuffing the reeds into the case and slamming it shut.

"What's your name?" Ichigo suddenly asked, struck by curiosity.

"Shinji. Now can I have my sheet music back?" he asked impatiently, holding his hand out for the music.

"Yeah, here," Ichigo said, handing him the music and standing up.

"Thank you. Bye."

"I am sorry!" Ichigo called after the retreating figure. He shrugged when he didn't get a response.

"You totally nailed a band nerd!" snickered Renji as Ichigo picked up the ball and sent it spiraling back at him.

"Shut up Renji. I thought you were past stupid cliques like that," Ichigo sighed.

"I am. But anyways. You should go. To the club I mean," Renji said.

"No. Get over it," Ichigo ordered. "I hate clubs and I hate it when those stupid sluts start dancing around me."

"What? Are you gay?" Renji snickered again.

"NO!" Ichigo answered defensively. _Yes,_ his inner voice said. "Besides, is there anything wrong with gay people?"

"I didn't say that," Renji sighed. "I'd just find it weird that you, the most well known man at our college who could have any girl he wanted, would be gay."

"Yeah…" Ichigo agreed with a frown.

Renji didn't catch it. "So you won't be going?" he asked.

"No. Sorry," Ichigo told him. "I'll see you later."

Ichigo sent the ball back at Renji one last time and then turned away, glad when the wind struck his face, cooling him off with cold fingers. He picked up his bag and water bottle and continued on his way to his dorm. The sun was just setting and the city was becoming dead to the world, slowly. The people and cars grew fewer and fewer as he continued walking, head down.

_What would Renji think if he knew? I mean…he should've been the first to know when I found out. But…I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Oh well._

Ichigo came to an abrupt halt when two men stumbled out of the alley way in front of him. One had a swelling black eye, the other a bloody nose and fear was alight in their eyes.

Before Ichigo could say anything however, they were running away down the road. So instead, he peeked his head around the corner to see a familiar face.

"Shinji? Is that you?"

Shinji was sitting on the grimy ground, his back against the wall, panting. In his hand he grasped his case and Ichigo realized with a wince that his other hand had bloody knuckles.

"Hey," Shinji panted, turning to face Ichigo. His face was unreadable due to the misty light over a doorway behind him.

"Are you okay? What happened?" Ichigo asked, walking closer to him.

Shinji stood up, dropping the case and dusting himself off. "Some jerks tried to steal my stuff. I'm fine."

"Who knew a scrawny kid like you could fight." The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them and Ichigo winced. Before he could apologize however, he was pinned to the wall, arms twisted behind his back.

"I can fight. Don't you think for a second that I can't."

Ichigo remained calm. "So what type of karate is this?" he asked.

"Self defense. Why?"

"I only learned the offensive kind," Ichigo replied, twisting his hand and lightly resting his nails against the inside flesh of Shinji's wrist.

"Well…this has to be the weirdest way to meet someone," Shinji remarked as he released Ichigo, allowing him to turn around. "Get hit with a soccer ball and then pinning him to the wall."

"Yeah. So, what year is this for you?" Ichigo asked.

"Freshman. And you're Ichigo Kurosaki. The star. Yeah, don't even bother introducing yourself," Shinji sighed. "Everyone on campus knows who you are."

Ichigo grinned sheepishly. "Sometimes I wished they didn't. But if playing soccer gets me into college free then I'll go for it."

"So you aren't going pro?" Shinji questioned.

"Nope. I'm going into a science degree," he replied.

"Oh. Well…I should go."

"Are you sure you're okay?" Ichigo asked worriedly, noticing how Shinji was starting to sway slightly.

"Just a little worn out. I'll be fine," Shinji replied. "You can go."

"I don't think so. You can come to my dorm and rest. You just fought two guys off."

Shinji finally nodded. "My dorm is another twenty blocks away. I suppose I could."

"Wow…that's a ways away. Mine is right up ahead. Come on."

Ichigo led the younger out of the alley and silently, the two headed for Ichigo's dorm. Luckily, he was on the first floor so they didn't need to climb any steps.

"I see you got one of the nice dorms," Shinji commented as Ichigo opened the door, allowing Shinji to walk inside.

"Yeah. I paid for this one though," Ichigo said, throwing his bag onto his small bed. "You can sit on that and rest. I've got homework."

Shinji moved the bag aside a bit and then sat down, setting his case at his feet. Ichigo sat down at his desk, flicking on the lamp and grabbing his backpack, rummaging through the contents. Finally, he pulled out a gigantic packet filled with complicated algebra equations.

"You can do that?" Shinji gaped, getting to his feet and walking over to look at the packet. "What is that?"

"Quantum physics," Ichigo replied. "That's my degree."

"You are really smart then, aren't you?" Shinji questioned, still staring at the packet.

"Not really. The other guys in my class can do these problems in five minutes. It takes me about ten."

Shinji didn't say anything, instead contenting himself with watching Ichigo go about solving all of the problems. After three problems or so, Ichigo dropped his pencil, flexing his fingers. "So what is your degree in?"

"Performance. I've been practicing since I was seven on the saxophone so I could get into college here. I've been playing the piano since I was ten to help," Shinji answered.

"I have no musical talent at all. Could you play something for me?" Ichigo asked, turning to look at him head on.

Shinji nodded. "I guess."

He turned around and flipped open the case, pulling out a reed and sticking it in his mouth while pulling out the gleaming instrument and quickly assembling it, his fingers nimble.

_I know how I could put fingers like that to use,_ Ichigo thought. _Wait! NO! Bad thoughts Ichigo. Bad thoughts!_

Shinji turned back around, fastening the reed onto the instrument and then playing a few notes. He frowned and then readjusted the mouth piece before playing again. _There we go,_ he thought.

"Any requests?" he asked. "Or can I just play something I know?"

"Go ahead and play whatever."

Shinji shrugged and then began playing. Ichigo recognized the song almost instantly. Sure he was a jock but he could listen to the jazz channel couldn't he? It was one of the more popular songs on the channel. He leaned back in his chair and just listened for several minutes, letting the smooth sound fill the room. He felt himself being lulled to sleep when the music stopped.

"You're falling asleep on me Ichigo," Shinji sighed in an annoyed tone.

"It was soothing. Sorry," Ichigo apologized, blushing as he sat up again.

"No problem," Shinji said, unhooking the strap around his neck. In no time at all, the instrument was put away. "I should probably get going. I don't want to impose on you or anything."

"We should hang out later," Ichigo told him.

Shinji's blond eyebrows raised in surprise. "Really? Wouldn't it ruin your image if you hung out with a freshman?"

"Do you think I care about my image? I'm a freaking science nerd and society already rejects those. That and I'm-" Ichigo stopped himself. _Shit. Almost said I'm gay. That's one way to send him running._

"You're what?" Shinji asked, tilting his head to the side questioningly.

"Erm…gay…" Ichigo finished.

**Gah! First chapter is done! Yay! Review please!**


	2. Chapter 2

**The second chapter! Finally! I'm pushing my creativity to the limit right now and I have reached a stage of non productivity for my other stories. It's so sad! Once again, I do not own it. I changed the title to Half Jack merely because I've been listening to the song way too much for the past couple of days. . My parents are annoyed with it. But oh well!**

Ichigo dropped his homework packet in the bin on his way out the door, sighing as he did so. He was itching to get outside. The classrooms were hot and stuffy making him uncomfortable and fidgety. As soon as he stepped outside he took a deep breath before suddenly being clapped on the back by Renji.

"Hey science geek. How's it going?" he joked, grinning broadly at his friend.

"Fine," Ichigo sighed, really not up for Renji's antics. He had been up late finishing the physics packet as well as the calculus worksheet he had been assigned. And all because he had been distracted by the oh so gorgeous Shinji. _Wait! What am I thinking!? _Ichigo thought, unable to stop the blush around his neck.

"Are you thinking dirty thoughts?" Renji teased when he saw Ichigo's blush.

The blush darkened and Ichigo slugged him in the arm. "No, you pervert!"

"I'm just saying! So, you missed a lot at the club. It was fun and there was this chick there and-"

Ichigo tuned him out as they headed for the soccer field, bags in hands, and wind in hair. His thoughts were drifting back to the night before when Shinji had been playing the saxophone. Never had he heard such beautifully played music by someone so young. It had absolutely wowed him.

"You've completely zoned out," Renji grumbled as they made it to the field.

"Sorry Renji. I was thinking about that kid I hit last night. I met up with him later," Ichigo admitted. "He was getting beat up. He handled himself pretty well though. Not an injury on him."

"He's such a nerd. Don't concern yourself with him," Renji sniffed.

"So am I Renji. Don't be so quick to judge people," Ichigo ordered. "He's cool. Really good on his instrument too."

"Yeah, whatever you say Ichigo," Renji muttered. "Let's just practice."

So they did even though Ichigo didn't pay any attention it at all. By the end of practice he had been hit at least seven times.

"You're losing your touch Ichigo," Kira called, brushing his blond hair out of his face.

He tossed the ball back at him from the goal and Ichigo held it still with his foot. "Sorry. My mind isn't really here," he admitted.

"We all have our off days. Don't worry about it," Kira assured him. "Let's just hope it isn't on a game day or something."

_It's always the game,_ Ichigo thought as he sent the ball whirling towards Kira again. _Don't they ever think about anything else?_

"Ichigo? Do you practice everyday?" called a voice.

All of the teammate's heads turned to see Shinji walking towards them. A simple grey jacket covered his shoulders and he had a matching grey hat as well. He wore a white dress shirt beneath it though it wasn't tucked in so it flapped in the wind. _I wonder what he'd look like without the shirt. Shit! Bad thoughts Ichigo! Bad thoughts!_

"Hey Shinji. Yeah, we do."

Everyone was staring at them intensively and Shinji fidgeted. "I uh…feel awkward."

"Go back to practice," Ichigo called over his shoulder. Ichigo led Shinji into the bleachers once the sound of practice had resumed. "So what's up?"

"I didn't think practice would be everyday and I just wanted to hang out," Shinji admitted.

"We can. After practice. I just can't leave as much as I want to," Ichigo told him. "My team isn't full of people I would normally hang out with. They're stereotypical and can be pretty idiotic."

"Just as long as I don't get hit with another soccer ball, I don't mind," Shinji said with a laugh.

"No guarantees to that. Let's be honest. You're a freshman. All of them our juniors or seniors. Bullying you is their cup of tea. I can tell them not to but they don't always listen to me," Ichigo said. "So I think it'd be better if you stopped by in another hour or so. Then we can go and do whatever."

Shinji shrugged and Ichigo was glad that the freshman didn't feel put out or anything. He didn't want to make him feel as if Ichigo didn't want to hang out with him, because he did. That much was for sure.

"I'll see you in an hour than. I have to take some stuff back to my dorm anyways," Shinji told him, indicating his saxophone by patting the case.

"By the time you get back we'll be done with practice," Ichigo joked. "You live so far away."

"That's the idea," Shinji replied. "See you in an hour."

"Sounds good."

Shinji walked away from him then and Ichigo headed back down onto the field. As practice dragged on, he found himself wishing that he could just leave and go find Shinji. His life as a soccer star was becoming extremely monotonous and he was wishing for a change.

"Good practice, Ichigo," Renji said as they headed for the bags like every other night.

"Yeah," Ichigo agreed, slinging his bag over his shoulder.

"So are we going to go to a club tonight?" Renji asked, waggling his eyebrows.

"I'm hanging with Shinji, so no," Ichigo answered as Shinji's form came into view.

Renji looked at the approaching freshman in disgust. "Seriously, why do you hang out with him? He's such a-"

"Shut up Renji," Ichigo ordered. "I'll see you later."

He trotted away from him, angry at how Renji was being well…an ass. "Hey Shinji."

"Hi Ichigo!" Shinji greeted, grinning.

"So where to?" Ichigo asked as they began walking away from the field.

"I was thinking maybe my place. I want to show you my piano skills," Shinji told him. "You've seen my play the saxophone but I'm way better on the piano."

"Well that should be interesting. Do you think we could stop by my dorm first? I'm sweaty and I stink," Ichigo grumbled, wrinkling his nose.

"That I can agree too," Shinji said, laughing when Ichigo's eyes narrowed.

"Just come on."

They walked in silence to Ichigo's dorm, neither really having anything to say. Companionable silence was enough for each of them. Ichigo groaned when he realized he didn't have his key.

"You forgot your key?" Shinji asked. "That was smart."

"Hold on. Do you have a membership card to somewhere?"

"Um…yeah. Here," Shinji said, pulling out his wallet and handing Ichigo a credit card.

Ichigo slipped into the crack of the door and slid it down, opening the door when the lock clicked. He tossed the card back to Shinji and then held the door open for him before dropping his things on his bed.

"Do whatever you want. I'll be out in a few minutes!" Ichigo called, slipping into the bathroom.

"Okay!"

Shinji took off his hat and tossed it on the bed as well before looking around the room. That was when he noticed the stack of papers scattered all over the desk and on the floor around it. Curiosity piqued, Shinji picked up one of the papers, reading the top of it carefully.

_Possibility of other dimensions?_

_According to the laws of quantum physics it is very possible that there are other dimensions. Theoretically, if you roll a dice in this world, the you in the other dimension would roll a two while you would roll a five. But if other dimensions are possible, does this mean other people are possible besides the ones already existing in one dimension?_

_Suppose, theoretically, different choices are made in another dimension then they were here. These choices could cause different people to be born who wouldn't be born in normal circumstances. If this is true, then would these children who weren't born in other dimensions be real? If there is only one of them that means their data is only coded into one dimension. Again, theoretically, is it possible for them to travel to another dimension or would they die merely because their data does not resonate with anyone else in that dimension? _

_Also, how would you get to another dimension if it were possible? Dimensions are just data as are people according to the laws of quantum physics. So is it possible to decode ones data and send it to another dimension that had another of them there as well? What would be the effects of having two of the same person in one dimension? Would they react in a bad way, destroying each other? Or would they seek the best alternative instinctively and combine together?_

_These questions still remain unanswered despite out research. These are the questions I would like to find the answers to. With your help Ichigo Kurosaki, I believe we can._

Shinji stared at the paper for a second longer. An email maybe? But from who? Shinji's gaze dropped to the name at the bottom. _Gin Ichimaru? Even I've heard of him. He's a top notch quantum physicist who works for the government! Why would he want to work with a college student?_


	3. Chapter 3

**FINALLY! I got the third chapter out. It's longer than the other ones though so be happy. This fanfiction is definitely going to be a long one and I don't know how long it will take so just be patient with me. I do not own Bleach, the Dresden Dolls, any other bands mentioned, or the ps2. Review please!**

"What are you looking at?" asked Ichigo's voice from behind him.

Shinji turned, holding up the paper. "I just…I'm sorry. Did you not want me looking at it?" Shinji tried not to blush when he realized that Ichigo was only wearing a towel, water dripping down his chest.

"It's fine. It's the email I got from Mr. Ichimaru right?" he asked, stepping closer.

"Um, yeah," Shinji answered. "So…why would he want a college student's help?"

Ichigo shrugged, trying to act as if it didn't matter though his gaze darkened dramatically. "I have ideas to offer. Formulas that could lead to the answers to his questions that he can't test without me."

"So you're going to meet up with him?" Shinji asked.

"I don't know. I might."

And just like that, the matter was dropped. It was obvious Ichigo didn't want to address it at the time.

"So…can we go to my dorm?"

"Can I change?" Ichigo asked, raising a single eyebrow to show he was teasing.

Shinji was unable to suppress the next blush that engulfed his face and he saw that one was arising on Ichigo's face as well. _So perhaps the feeling is mutual,_ he thought as he turned away and allowed Ichigo to change. _I'm sure he's used to people staring at him though. Girls anyways. _

"So what kind of music to you listen to?" Ichigo asked, his voice muffled as he pulled a shirt on over his head.

"Punk cabaret. The Dresden Dolls. They're the only ones who fit into that category. Some punk rock and some scremo. A variety really. Pretty much everything," Shinji answered.

"Dresden Dolls? Aren't they like…really weird?" Ichigo asked.

Shinji frowned. "The people who say that are close minded."

"Sorry."

"Besides. The drummer is so totally hot!"

Ichigo laughed as he walked around Shinji so he could face him head on. "If you say so Shinji."

"Let's just go before we get in a fight over musical tastes," Shinji said as he followed Ichigo out the door.

They headed out into the darkening streets of the city, both silent. Ichigo was deep in thought about the email from Gin Ichimaru. He had received it a week ago and to be honest, his interest had been caught immediately. According to quantum physics other dimensions were possible. But these things Gin was talking about were crazy and intense and to be completely honest with himself, he wasn't that confident in his abilities to help.

His teacher, Professor Tousen, was friends with Gin Ichimaru and had recommended Ichigo to him. He said that the formulas and equations he came up with seemed correct and that if they had the equipment they would know for sure. When Ichigo said he didn't want to work with him that was when the email had arrived.

"Ichigo…what are you thinking about?" Shinji wondered.

"What?" Ichigo was startled out of his thoughts. "Oh nothing."

Shinji shook his head. "Whatever. But you look worried. Maybe it would help if you-"

"It's nothing. Drop it," Ichigo ordered. Shinji's expression was saddened as he looked down and Ichigo instantly felt bad. "I'm sorry."

Shinji glanced up. "I shouldn't have pushed you. If you don't want to talk about it, okay."

He started to look down but Ichigo made him look up by tilting his face up with his hand. "Don't blame yourself. The subject just isn't something that needs to be discussed at the moment. Maybe later."

"Um…okay?"

They continued walking, the tension evaporating instantly. _He seems carefree most of the time but he definitely has a darker side to him,_ Shinji thought. _And whether that's good or bad, I don't really know. _

"Well…this is it," Shinji said, scratching the back of his head as they stopped in front of a run down dorm building.

"Let's go," Ichigo told him, not commenting on how run down it was. He didn't want to embarrass Shinji for not being able to afford something better.

Shinji opened the main door that opened into the main lobby area. It was dark and obviously not well kept like the rest of the building but once again, Ichigo said nothing.

Instead of going up they went down a set of stairs into the basement. There was a single hallway with five doors on either side. Two flickering lights were the only sources of light in the entire hallway but Shinji didn't seem to suffer from the inability to see. He found his room and slipped the key into the keyhole, turning the knob and letting Ichigo inside.

It was surprisingly clean compared to the rest of the room and the lights were in better condition. There was an expensive looking keyboard on the farthest wall with a small bed next to it. On the wall across from the bed was a desk with a laptop on it as well as several stacks of paper.

"This looks a lot better than the rest of the building," Ichigo commented.

Shinji flushed as he sat down on the stool in front of the keyboard. "You can sit down on the bed. I just want to play something for you. Like I said, I'm better on the piano."He shook his hands out and then rested them on the keys. "I'm going to do some improvising if you don't mind."

"Go ahead. Amaze me."

Shinji began playing with his left note, a simple beat on the lower notes. The peed slowly built up and then the right hand joined in, fingers dancing an intricate pattern on the upper keys. Ichigo was blown away by the swiftness and ease that the notes were played with. It was as if the keys and his fingers were one unit working together to create the most beautiful melody they could.

It was a haunting tune. The notes seemed to echo around the small room though it was impossible for that to be happening at all. Ichigo watched Shinji's fingers, trying to find some set pattern to where he played but found that there wasn't one. He seemed to be playing off of sheer instinct and it seemed that it led him true.

The music built up to a loud and crashing volume before suddenly stopping, the sound still ringing through the still air. Then he began playing again, still in the same minor key with the same haunting feel to it. The music droned on for several long minutes but Ichigo found that he didn't bore of it at all. The pattern changes kept him guessing what was coming next and it entertained him to no end.

When it finally ended, Ichigo was officially blown away. "That…was amazing Shinji."

Shinji flushed again, ducking his head and chewing his lip. "Thanks."

"My only skill is soccer," Ichigo said with a frown.

"And doing insane mathematical equations!" Shinji cried before reddening again and looking away.

"People can do that better than me though," Ichigo told him.

"And people can play the piano better than me too," Shinji countered. "Let's just drop it, okay?"  
"Sounds good to me."

Shinji sat up and then sat down beside him on the bed. "So…what do you want to do?"  
"I don't really know. Have any game platforms?" Ichigo asked.

"Yeah. There's a ps2 over there," Shinji replied, pointing to the sleek black gaming platform which was steadily gaining dust. He had been busy writing music that he hadn't had time to play it.

"Can I take it apart and put it back together?" Ichigo asked, grinning at the bewildered expression on Ichigo's face.

"Do you even know how to do that?" he demanded.

"That's the joy of it," Ichigo answered. "It isn't any fun if I knew how to do it."  
Shinji just rolled his eyes. "I guess. I do have warranty on it so I could get it fixed. Just don't screw up…please?"

"I won't!" Ichigo said cheerily, sitting down by the ps2 and unplugging it, setting it in his lap.

Shinji just stared as he pulled out several tools from nowhere and began dismantling the machine in swift movements, placing each part in organized piles around him.

"So…are you trying to show off?" Shinji asked.

"I'm bored and I want to do something while we talk," Ichigo told him as he untwisted some cables. "What do you do in your free time besides anything related to music?"

"I don't really remember. I haven't had any free time in a long time. I've been too busy composing music that it usually consumes up all my time," Shinji admitted.

"Oh…sorry…you should probably be working and I'm distracting you," Ichigo said with a blush.

"Don't worry. I enjoy your company," Shinji told him, flushing slightly too.

Ichigo ducked his head and continued what he was doing. "So how long have you been playing the piano?"

"Since I was seven."

Their conversation continued back and forth for an hour as Ichigo finished taking apart the machine and then easily putting it back together, checking to make sure it still worked.

"That's amazing. You're more of a geek than I am," Shinji teased.

Ichigo grinned sheepishly. "I guess I am."

Silence fell then and neither knew what to say. Finally, Shinji spoke.

"Um…I guess you should be getting home…huh?" he asked quietly.

"Er…yeah," Ichigo said. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah," Shinji agreed with a grin.

Ichigo got to his feet and gave him a small wave before exiting.


	4. Chapter 4

**Gr. This chapter is short too. But anyways. I do not own Bleach. This is the chapter in which the plot finally starts so. Enjoy! Thanks for the reviews!**

"I really hate that kid," Renji growled as he kicked the ball towards Ichigo's head, glaring at Shinji while he did so.

Shinji sat in the bleachers, not paying attention the practice going on below with his head phones plugged in his ears and a notepad sitting on his lap. Furious scribbling could be seen and his expression was of pure concentration.

"Why?" Ichigo demanded, immediately getting defensive.

"He's weird and a total band geek," Renji answered. "I mean seriously. Think of what he could do to your reputation. He'll only drag you down."

"Do you actually think I care about my reputation?" Ichigo scoffed. "It has never meant a thing to me."

"But…Ichigo-"

"Just shut up Renji. Now, before you say something stupid," Ichigo ordered, silencing him.

The rest of practice was completed in tense silence but Ichigo was mad so he didn't see the point in trying to fix it. As soon as practice ended, he grabbed his things wordlessly and scaled up the bleachers to where Shinji sat.

"Hey Shinji," he greeted.

Shinji took off his head phones and glanced at him. "You stink."

"Yeah thanks, Shinji," Ichigo sighed, rolling his eyes. "What are you working on?"

"Writing down the piano score for this song," Shinji answered. "Why?"  
"Wait…so you're listening to the song, identifying the notes, and writing them all down?" Ichigo asked.

"Yes…why? Is that so strange?" Shinji wondered.

"Isn't that…really hard?"

"Yes…why?"

"You are really something Shinji. So…do you want to hang out again?" Ichigo asked.

"As long as you take a shower," Shinji told him as they stood up.

Ichigo helped him pack up his things and they began walking, heading for Ichigo's dorm room.

"I really wish people would stop being close minded," Ichigo suddenly grumbled, startling Shinji.

"What brought that on?"

"Idiots on the team. They're so against things that are different. It pisses me off," Ichigo answered.

"They…were talking about me weren't they?" Shinji mumbled. "I know they hate me. I'm a band geek."

"Well fuck them. I think you're amazing," Ichigo told him, fumbling with the key as he tried to fit it in the lock.

"Don't get so worked up Ichigo. I'm used to it," Shinji said as Ichigo tossed his things on his bed.

"I can't help it," Ichigo sighed. "I hate it when people judge others just by looks and stereotypes like band geeks and stuff. It's just like high school all over again."

"Which sucks. But seriously Ichigo. Don't get mad at your friends for not liking me," Shinji said. "They're worried about your image."

"But I don't care about my image," Ichigo protested. "Well…I mean my clothes have to look good but I mean my status on the college food chain."

Shinji snorted. "You are so gay."

"Why yes I am," Ichigo said proudly, dropping his things on the floor before heading for the bathroom. "Be right out."

Shinji sat down on his bed, stretching out and staring at the ceiling. The sounds of the shower turning on were strangely comforting and he felt himself falling asleep so instead he turned his head phones on again and began writing out the music. Finally, Ichigo emerged from the shower, smelling a lot better and dressed in jeans and a simple t-shirt.

"Alright. So what are we doing tonight?" Ichigo asked.

"I don't know. I was-"

Suddenly Ichigo's cell phone rang, interrupting the silence. Puzzled, Ichigo stared at the number he had never seen before on the front.

"Hello?"

_"Ichigo Kurosaki? This is Gin Ichimaru. You hadn't responded to my email so I decided to call."_

Ichigo didn't say anything, shocked by the fact that Gin Ichimaru had actually called his cell phone. "Um…how did you get this number?"

_"Your professor Kurosaki-kun. Now, I would like to discuss my offer to you in more detail. May I meet you sometime tomorrow?"_

"No. My answer is no. I'm not working for you on this project. I'm still a college student," Ichigo protested.

_"But Kurosaki-kun. Think of the doors this could open for you? Aren't you even a little bit curious about this? You'd have to seeing as how you're going into this degree."_

"I am curious. But I don't want to get distracted from my school work," Ichigo told him, grasping at straws at this point.

_"Oh you wouldn't have to worry about that at all. It will be taken care of. You're running out of excuses Kurosaki-kun. I'll meet you at the coffee shop nearest your calculus class tomorrow at eleven."_

And with that, he hung up the phone. Ichigo stared at it, stunned for several heartbeats.

"What was that about?" Shinji wondered.

"I've just been forced to work on a top secret project involving quantum physics…but other then that, nothing important," Ichigo told him.

"Um…you've gone a bit pale. I think you should sit down," Shinji suggested.

"Sounds good."


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry that took so long! But here it is!! And it's longer too! I do not own Bleach, never will. Enjoy the chapter and review please!!**

"Professor Tousen," Ichigo started, walking up to the professor's desk after class. "Why did you give Gin Ichimaru my number?"

Tousen turned to him, running a hand through his black hair which he had decided to leave down that day. "You would be a powerful asset helping in our research. I want you to work with us."

"Get one of the other students. They're smarter than I am," Ichigo protested.

"Don't you have a meeting with Mr. Ichimaru right now?" Tousen asked.

Ichigo snorted. "I'm not going to meet with him. I don't want to work on the project so I'm not going to."

"You realize that that isn't an option anymore. This project is top secret and now that you know of it, you either work with us or…something unfortunate happens," Tousen said softly.

Ichigo paled and he glanced away. "Fuck…I'll go see him. Okay?"

He whirled away from Tousen and exited the room, slamming the door behind him before whipping out his cell phone and dialing Shinji's number. Shinji had given it to him last night, ordering him to call him if anything bad happened.

"Um…hi Ichigo," Shinji's voice said. "Are you okay?"

"I just got threatened…Shinji…I'm scared…" he whispered, eyes darting around nervously. "They…they'll kill me if I don't help them."

"I…you don't really have a choice then do you? Work with them. I…can't really help you Ichigo. As much as I wish I could, I just can't," Shinji muttered softly as Ichigo sank to the ground, leaning against the wall.

"I know…I just…had to tell someone…" Ichigo breathed, closing his eyes and rubbing the bridge of his nose. "I'll call you when I find out more, okay?"

"Okay. Good luck Ichigo."

"Thanks."

Ichigo clicked the phone shut and sat there for several more minutes, thinking hard and trying to calm himself down. _I could go to the police…but would they believe me over the esteemed scientist Gin Ichimaru? Unlikely…_

He got to his feet and slowly made his way out of the building, readjusting his backpack as he entered the coffee shop right down the street from his class. When he entered it, he could easily pick out Gin. He was the only one with ghostly pale skin and white hair as well as a fixed smile on his lips.

"Kurosaki-kun! Nice of you to join me!" Gin greeted. "Take a seat."

Ichigo sat down and stared at Gin with cold eyes, easily masking his fear with anger. "So…what?"

"Well…you're working on this project now. Whether you like it or not," Gin told him, still smiling. "You're a smart kid and I don't want that brain of yours to go to waste on something stupid."

"Fine…I got that part. Just don't make me leave here. I'd like to stay in the area," Ichigo told him, relenting without a fight. No sense in getting himself killed.

"Oh goodie! Now sign this contract. It states that we don't have any responsibility if unfortunate accidents happen during our experiments and that we have the authority to eliminate you from the face of the Earth if you betray us," Gin told him cheerily.

Ichigo stared at him as if he had lost his mind only now he was thoroughly convinced that Gin was just a madman, not a scientist. But seeing as how he had no choice, he took out a pen and signed the contract.

"There…are you happy?" he demanded.

"Oh quite. We'll be notifying you later on where to meet us. We were already planning on conducting out our experiments here," Gin told him.

"So I can go?" Ichigo asked.

"Oh yes. Bye bye now!" Gin called after him as he left.

_Oh my life sucks,_ Ichigo thought as he pulled out his phone and quickly called Shinji, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"So what happened?" Shinji demanded without checking to make sure it was him.

"I was forced to sign a contract saying that my accidental death isn't their fault," Ichigo answered. "But other than that, nothing big. Oh wait…they also have the right to kill me if I betray them."

"Um…wow…" was all Shinji could think of to say.

"Yeah…thanks for your brilliant advice," Ichigo grumbled.

"Well sorry! But there isn't really a lot to say in this situation," Shinji said. "Want to meet somewhere?"

"Just come to my dorm please," Ichigo answered.

"Okay. I'll be there soon."

Ichigo clicked the phone shut and head for his dorm although several times he felt like slamming his head into random buildings to see if this was all a dream and he would wake up. But of course he didn't. When he reached his dorm room he tossed his things on the floor without even thinking about it and fell onto his bed, screaming into his pillow before rolling over on his back.

"Well…that felt better," he said quietly.

"Ichigo…open up," Shinji's voice called as he knocked on the door.

"Just open it. It's open a crack," Ichigo answered.

Shinji opened the door and shut it, looking at Ichigo. "You look like crap, just so you know."  
"Thanks," Ichigo sighed, sitting up.

"So…why am I here?" Shinji asked, setting his things down next to Ichigo's bag.

"Morale support," Ichigo answered. "That and I feel paranoid."

"Uh…why?" Shinji asked, giving him a puzzled look as he sat down next to him.

"Well…after my life being threatened by my college professor and one of the most esteemed scientists ever one would feel paranoid," Ichigo said.

"Very true…but I don't see how I'm helping."

"I can use you as a shield when the ninja assassins come to kill me," Ichigo told him with fake brightness.

"Um…right. I'm glad you think so highly of me," Shinji said, raising a single fine eyebrow. "So why can't you go to the police?"

"Well let's think. Do you think this would fly with them? I've been threatened to work in a secret government project and my college professor said they would kill me if I told anyone…yeah…that isn't going to work," Ichigo said.

"When you put it that way," Shinji said. "So…I guess I'll just be here when things get tough, okay?"

Ichigo nodded. "Thanks Shinji…you're the only one I can really tell about this, you know?"

"Why? Because all the rest of your friends are close minded?" Shinji mused softly, glancing over at him.

"Pretty much. But there's another thing. You have to act like you know nothing about this other wise…they might hurt you," Ichigo mumbled awkwardly.

"Whatever. I'm not going to be stupid and blurt this out to people."

Shinji didn't say anything else when Ichigo suddenly hugged him and instead just patted his head lightly.

"You should probably go," Ichigo said quietly.

"I know. I'll see you tomorrow, all right?" Shinji asked, looking down at him.

Ichigo nodded tiredly before letting go and allowing Shinji to stand. "See you."

"Bye bye, Ichigo."

Shinji lightly kissed him on the forehead but was out the door before Ichigo could say anything. Ichigo just smiled lightly and collapsed back on his bed.


	6. Chapter 6

**Gah! Finally! I wrote the next chapter and it's longer to make up for the wait. Warnings-Hitsugaya permanently pmsing, Urahara being a crazy cat lover, Soi Fon throwing pointy objects, and boys kissing boys. I do not own Bleach.**

Ichigo straightened the tie on his suit as he wandered down towards the address Gin had given him. He didn't want to appear the slacker on his first day working on a government job. The building was tall, Ichigo guessed about thirty or more floors. He was surprised when he saw Gin waiting for him in the main lobby.

"Kurosaki-kun. It's a pleasure to have you here today. Now if you would follow me," Gin ordered, leading him across the marble floors to an elevator nearest the lobby desk.

He pressed the down button and shoved Ichigo inside, pressing the closed button and then pulling out a key from his pocket. He raised a small plastic case off a keyhole and turned the key within it. Ichigo watched as a small button appeared above the plastic case. Gin pressed it and then removed the key, closing the case. The smooth edge of the wall closed over the button and the elevator lurched into motion, taking them down.

"Now Kurosaki-kun. We are working on a way to get into other dimensions, which we fully believe exist. But unfortunately, we need fresh ideas coming through and on top of that our team is small. We will be experimenting with equations and the like to try and open a portal," Gin explained, stopping when the doors opened and they stepped out.

A long black table was displayed in front of him, all the seats taken except for two. Gin indicated for him to a seat on the left side of the table in between a short boy who appeared to be thirteen and a sickly looking man with long silver colored hair.

"Team, this is Ichigo Kurosaki, the newest member of our team. The one to your left in Ukitake, a brilliant calculus mastermind. The boy to your right is Hitsugaya. He graduated from college at age thirteen," Gin told him. "And of course if you travel around towards your left we have Byakuya, Soi Fon, and Urahara."

"Greeting Kurosaki-kun. Tousen tells me a lot about you," the last one said, tipping his green and white striped hat up to look at Ichigo with dark eyes that sparkled with mirth.

In his lap sat a black cat which was fixating Ichigo with a cold green stare as its tale lashed back and forth.

"Our lab is just in the back but first, Hitsugaya and Ukitake have somethings they need to show us," Gin said, motioning for Ukitake and Hitsugaya to speak.

"Well," Hitsugaya started, standing up. "We have several new probable calculations that might help us."

The young boy ran a hand through snow white hair as he fished a remote out of his pocket and pointed it towards the ceiling. Two panels opened and a screen dropped down as one by one, ten long formulas lanced across it.

Ichigo scanned them over quickly before turning to Gin. "What's the number of volts we'll be passing through whatever medium you'll be using?"

Gin quickly rattled off a number, expression questioning.

"If that's true then you need to change the fifth number in the seventh equation. You'd need to lower it by at least four," Ichigo told him.

Hitsugaya's eyes narrowed as he reached under the table for his bag, pulling out a laptop and quickly loading it up.

"And if you don't mind me asking, what will you be using?" Ichigo asked.

"We'll get to that later. Until then, Hitsugaya-kun, fix the equation. Everyone else, let us move on to examine the rest of them."

An hour passed as the group debated back and forth, changing something here, changing it back and changing something somewhere else. In that time, Ichigo quickly learned that Hitsugaya hated being corrected and that Soi Fon seemed even more knowledgeable then Gin himself.

"Alright. We'll use these formulas and input them into the machine. I'll leave that to Urahara and Yoruichi," Gin said, standing up.

"Yoruichi?" Ichigo asked.

"My cat!" Urahara said brightly as he picked the cat up and showed her to Ichigo. "Let's go Yoruichi-san!"

He set the cat down and walked through a door, the cat padding quietly after him.

"He's insane," Soi Fon stated when the door shut behind the pair. "He believes his cat is really a human trapped in cat form."

The door suddenly opened and Urahara peeked his head out, smirking. "I heard that Soi Fon!"

Soi Fon glowered at him, pulling out an object and throwing it at him abruptly. A black steak suddenly leapt up, catching whatever it was in her mouth and landing gracefully. Ichigo's eyes widened when he realized it was a small shuriken. No one used those anymore! It was a weapon from the agent past! So what was Soi Fon doing, flinging it around?

Before he could ask however, he was ushered into a different room with the others. This room was huge with a concrete floor and dim lights dangling from a ceiling high above them. To the front of the room was a huge archway, wires coiling over every inch of the stone.

"This is our method of transportation, should we finally come across the correct formula," Gin informed him. He gestured to the left, displaying a tinted window taking up the entire left hand wall. "Urahara and Yoruichi are in there, inputting the first formula."

As he spoke, a low hum began and the wires sparked. Ichigo realized a huge bulky wire was coming from a space in the wall beneath the window and then connected to all the tiny thin wires. The hum grew louder to the point of near deafening and Hitsugaya chewed his lip in anticipation as the wires began lighting up to the point of blinding.

Suddenly the hum stopped and the lights died down before the wires suddenly short circuited and burst into flames. Byakuya already had a fire extinguisher on hand and quickly put the flames out. Soi Fon had slipped into an electrician's suit by that point and quickly proceeded to dismantle all the wires, unwinding them and hauling them out of the room.

"God! I was so sure we got it right this time!" Hitsugaya growled.

"We still have nine other ones to try, Toshiro-kun," Ukitake told him gently.

Urahara suddenly entered the room holding several hundreds of carefully wound wires. "Hitsugaya-kun, Kurosaki-kun, a little help please!"

Ichigo and Hitsugaya sighed at the same time, following Urahara over to the archway which was charred but not damaged at all. Yoruichi clambered up the archway like it was nothing, sitting down at the top.

"Throw this up to her," Urahara ordered, unraveling a black cord and passing it to Ichigo.

Ichigo did as he ordered, surprised when Yoruichi snatched it in her teeth delicately before slowly clawing her way down the edge of the arch, making her way beneath it and clawing back up, slowly working all the way down to the ground and trotting over to another wall where there was a small cat flap. She pawed it open dropping the wire through and a hand quickly tugged it further into the other room. Ichigo guessed it was Soi Fon. That cat was truly amazing.

The day continued like this and all ten formulas had ended the same way. Hitsugaya was frustrated beyond belief and close to punching a wall, or so it seemed. Ukitake remained as patient as ever and Byakuya remained emotionless, expressing no disappointment when formula after formula failed.

By the time Ichigo left the building, the sun was setting and the cool night air was wrapping tightly around him. Gin was trailing behind him.

"Kurosaki-kun. I'm sure you realize this but because of your new project, you cannot continue playing soccer," Gin told him.

"Yes, I realize that. Which means I have no way to pay for tuition," Ichigo ground out.

"Yes you do. You forget, I work on the inside Kurosaki-kun. Your tuition is paid for," Gin said, grinning his ever creepy grin.

"R-really?" Ichigo stuttered, eyes widening.

"Of course Kurosaki-kun. Now if you excuse me, I have dinner to attend to."

With that, Gin walked away. When Ichigo arrived back at his dorm, Shinji was waiting outside the door, leaning against the wall with his head sets on and a stack of sheet music.

"Shinji," Ichigo said. "You're here."

Shinji tugged the headphones off. "Hey Ichigo. How did it go?"

"It was insane," Ichigo sighed, opening the door and letting Shinji inside. "There's a 13 year old brainiac, a crazy chick who uses ninja weapons, an emotionless man, some guy who believes his cat is actually a human, and Ukitake, the only normal one."

"Sounds like a creative bunch," Shinji laughed.

Ichigo rolled his eyes and shrugged out of his jacket. "Oh yeah. Do you want anything to eat? I've got left over macaroni and cheese in the mini fridge. Just put it in the microwave."

Shinji nodded. "Thanks. I'll get you some too."

Shinji easily located the mini fridge which sat on a counter. The microwave was on the same counter with a two shelves filled with miscellaneous things for food.

"So…how tired are you?" Shinji asked as he started the microwave.

Ichigo was already laying down on the bed, looking at him with a sleepy gaze. "I am exhausted. But…I can't do soccer anymore. But…Gin is paying for my tuition."

Shinji gaped at him. "Are you serious!"

"My reaction exactly. Can't say I'm complaining but I feel bad about it," Ichigo said as the microwave beeped that it was done. "Paper plates are on the top shelf."

Shinji quickly got their meals and came over to the bed, handing Ichigo his as well as a plastic fork. Ichigo sat up to allow Shinji to sit down.

"So what do you guys do?"

"Hitsugaya and Ukitake develop equations, as a team we go over them and see if anything seems wrong with the numbers, and then we test them. We did ten today but the reason it takes so long is well…if it doesn't work right the wires fizzle out and we have to rewire everything."

"That sucks," Shinji said. "And all I did today was write music."

"Do you have a recording?"

"Yeah. I wrote it on the computer though so the instruments are just the computer imitating them. It isn't as good," Shinji told him, looping the headphones off his neck and handing them to Ichigo.

Ichigo put them on and Shinji started the song, watching Ichigo's face anxiously. Ichigo's eyes widened as he listened.

"This is really good Shinji. Like…oh my god. I could never write anything like this," Ichigo said.

"But-"

"Shh! I'm listening!" Ichigo scolded.

Several minutes passed and finally, Ichigo took off the headphones.

"So?"

"It was great Shinji. I really liked the middle with that awesome solo…what instrument was that?" Ichigo asked.

"Cello," Shinji answered.

"I have no musical knowledge so sorry that I didn't know the name," Ichigo said, blushing.

"It's fine. Are you done?" Shinji asked.

"Yeah."

Ichigo handed his plate to Shinji and Shinji took them both and threw them away, sitting back down beside Ichigo. "So do your shoulders hurt?"

"Immensely, how'd you know?" Ichigo asked.

"Just a guess. That and you keep rolling your shoulders," Shinji said, smirking. "I can give you a massage."

"Are you coming on to me?" Ichigo teased, turning around nonetheless.

Shinji blushed, gripping Ichigo's shoulders and rubbing. Ichigo's head slumped forward at the pressure.

"You have a hell of a lot of knots back here Ichigo," Shinji told him, surprised by how tense the muscles were.

"Can't help it," Ichigo muttered. "But that feels really good."

Shinji smirked. "I'm a master."

Once Shinji was satisfied that he had gotten the majority of the knots out, he let go of Ichigo. Ichigo turned to face him then.

"Good job Shinji. That felt good."

Ichigo blushed when he thought of how good Shinji's hands had felt as they roamed over his back and shoulders, slowly working each and every muscle into relaxation.

"You're blushing Ichigo," Shinji stated.

Ichigo glanced up. "So are you. For what reason?"

"Um…"

"I like you…a lot," Ichigo blurted. "There."

"So do I."

"Glad we came to an understanding," Ichigo said sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.

"Yeah…"

Shinji leaned forward then, easily capturing Ichigo's lips in his. Ichigo didn't move, too shocked at first. Shinji started to pull back but Ichigo entwined a hand in his blond hair, deepening the kiss and slipping his tongue in. Shinji shuddered, pressing himself closer to Ichigo and running his hands up Ichigo's chest before resting them on his shoulders. Eventually, the need to breath caught up with them and they drew away.

"I think I'm gonna go," Shinji breathed.

"You can't go. Who will protect me from the crazy ninja assassins come?" Ichigo joked.

Shinji pulled out of Ichigo's grasp, looking down. "Fine. This one time. Move over."

Ichigo complied, not caring that he was still dressed in his dress shirt and grey pants, instead tugging Shinji close to him and falling asleep.


	7. Chapter 7

**Here it is! The seventh chapter. Thank you Plain Jane is a Vampire for beta-ing this for me! And to my reviewers of course. Warnings-Yaoi, swearing, over all insaneness. I do not own Bleach.**

It was weird for Ichigo to wake up with his arms wrapped tenderly around someone else. He nuzzled Shinji's blond hair once before unraveling himself. Shinji groaned when he pulled away.

"Come back warmth!" he muttered, tugging Ichigo back down.

Ichigo laughed, pulling away and standing up. "I've got to go to work, Shinji. I'll call you later tonight. You can crash here for however long."

Shinji just gave him a thumbs up and put his face back into the pillow. Within fifteen minutes, Ichigo was ready to go and out the door, pausing only to give Shinji a quick kiss.

Gin wasn't there to greet him that morning so he just slipped into the elevator, surprised to see the key already in the correct slot and the hidden button revealed. With a shrug, he pressed it and took the key out, slipping it into his pocket as the elevator took him deep beneath the building. When he arrived he saw only Urahara there, Yoruichi sleeping on his lap.

"Greetings, Kurosaki-kun. May I have my key back, please?" he asked, holding out his hand.

"That was yours?" Ichigo asked, fishing the key out and placing it in Urahara's hand.

"Yes. I knew you would be coming so I left it for you," Urahara told him, smiling.

"Um…thanks," Ichigo muttered, sitting down in the same seat as yesterday.

"No problem. Gin will be arriving in about two minutes," Urahara told him.

"How would you know that?" Ichigo asked, expecting some crazy and outlandish answer from the man.

"Yoruichi told me," Urahara said, beaming.

Yep, that was crazy.

"Right then," Ichigo sighed, shifting uneasily in his chair.

"Tell me Kurosaki-kun. Are you familiar with Japanese weapons?" Urahara asked suddenly.

"Um…a little bit. And I know karate, if that counts," Ichigo said with a shrug.

"Oh, I see. Are you familiar with the term, zanpaktou?" Urahara asked, reaching under the table.

"No," Ichigo answered, eyeing him carefully.

"Well, it refers to a sword that is imbued with a spirit and one is able to channel spirit energy through it. Similar to this," Urahara told him, pulling out a sheathed katana.

"What are you doing with that?" Ichigo cried, jolting back in his seat.

"Are you deaf, Kurosaki-kun? I already told you. It is a zanpaktou," Urahara told him.

Yoruichi suddenly looked up, meowing loudly.

Urahara smirked, hiding the sword beneath the table just as the elevator doors opened. Gin strode through, familiar smile in place. _He reminds of a fox with that smile,_ Ichigo thought as Gin sat down his chair.

"Urahara, Kurosaki-kun. Glad you are so early," Gin said.

"Soi Fon and Hitsugaya will be arriving in thirty seconds," Urahara announced.

Ichigo silently began counting down in his head, determined to figure out if Urahara was telling the truth. It wasn't like he believed the cat knew the time but he wanted to know if somehow Urahara himself knew. That was likely…but the cat? Absolutely not.

"Shut up Shorty," Soi Fon growled as they exited the elevator. Exactly when Ichigo reached zero in his countdown. _Holy crap…_

"I'm just saying that it makes more sense if the egg came before the chicken!" Hitsugaya protested, glaring at her with his arms folded.

"You are so stupid! The egg had to come from the chicken!" Soi Fon argued.

"Stop being ridiculous! Where did the chicken come from, hm?"

"Are you seriously fighting over that?" Ichigo asked, raising a fine eyebrow.

Soi Fon turned her gaze on him, eyes narrowed. "Shut up! Go sit down Shorty."

"Ten seconds until the arrival of Byakuya and Ukitake," Urahara called out.

Again, just like before, he was right. The two entered the room and Ukitake motioned for Hitsugaya to pull out his laptop and set it up.

"Well team. It's sad to say we have gotten absolutely nowhere in the past month," Gin said. "In all honesty, I am deeply disappointed."

"You're wrong Gin-sama!" Urahara cried excitedly. "The seventh equation was the closest to working. There was an intense gathering of quantum particles during the process there was just the matter of their being too much power. I believe we could easily figure it out now."

Gin turned to Hitsugaya. "Toshiro-kun. Get that formula up. Urahara, get to the booth and be ready to input the formula that I email you."

As he spoke he pulled out his own laptop, quickly loading it up. Gleefully, Urahara exited the room, Yoruichi balancing on the top of his hat. Soi Fon stared intently as the screen dropped down and the seventh formula appeared.

"We've been trying to access the past, am I correct?" she asked.

"Well, we can't know for sure where we'll turn up. But it is exciting to know that in another dimension, we have most likely already found the formula and used it. Personally, I would find it better if we traveled forward to know what happened. But I can't be picky," Gin said, his smile still in place.

"Well if Urahara said the strength was too much we need to knock down those four numbers," Byakuya broke in, indicating which ones he was talking about.

"Not just those," Ichijo broke in. "The last number needs to be raised if you lower those."

"He's right," Soi Fon agreed.

They debated back and forth over the numbers before finally, Gin sent the formula to Urahara.

"Come on everyone. Let's see if it works," Gin ordered, opening the door and stepping into the room from yesterday.

Already, the arch way was sparking and glowing as the familiar hum filled the room. The center of the arch began glowing with pale blue light and Ichigo felt excitement race through him. How could he have not wanted to sign up for this?

Urahara raced through the door, quickly striding over to Gin. "The portal is stable. It works."

"Yes!" Hitsugaya shouted, giving Ukitake a high five.

"Good job, brat," Soi Fon muttered, directing the comment at Ichigo.

"Well, unfortunately, we cannot embark on this journey now," Gin informed them. "Urahara, go turn it off. Now that we know it works, let's not waste anymore energy."

"Of course."

Urahara vanished out the door again and seconds later the portal was cut off, the humming sound dying.

"I think that was the most exciting moment of my life," Ichigo informed them.

"I have to agree," Ukitake said, shooting him a small smile.

"So now what do we do?" Hitsugaya asked.

"We go home. I'll be informing the government about this and I'll call you all back when a verdict has been reached," Gin told them.

()()()

When Shinji knocked on Ichigo's dorm door later that evening he had not been expecting for Ichigo to be there. He also had not been expecting the door to be thrown open and be pinned to a wall, a warm mouth covering his in a kiss. When Ichigo drew back, he was grinning from ear to ear, obviously pleased.

"I love getting greeted that way," Shinji said. "But…why are you so happy?"

"We did it! We made a portal! And it works! God! I'm so happy!" Ichigo all but squealed in excitement.

"I can tell. Wait…so you can travel to-"

"Other dimensions. Yes! It's brilliant, isn't it?" Ichigo sighed, eyes still brimming with excitement.

"So…what does this all mean now?" Shinji asked.

"Um…I don't really know actually. Gin said he has to report it to the government and we'll know then," Ichigo said, scratching the back of his head. He suddenly blushed. "I…missed you."

Shinji couldn't help but smile at the vulnerable sound in Ichigo's voice. He stepped forward, closing the gap between them again and gently kissing him. It was like a spark had ignited deep within Ichigo as his hands twisted in Shinji's hair, bringing them closer together as he deepened the kiss, nipping at Shinji's lower lip.

"Too fast, Ichigo," Shinji murmured quietly, pulling away.

"Sorry. I'm just…really happy right now," Ichigo said, blushing more.

"I never really took you as the blushing type, Ichigo. I-"

"Ichigo! Open this door right now!" Renji shouted, fist pounding on the door.

Ichigo groaned, pulling away from Shinji and opening the door. Renji strode in, face almost as red as his hair from anger.

"You quit the soccer team! Are you insane?" Renji shouted, not noticing Shinji at all.

"Um no. I just have another way of paying now and something important for my classes came up," Ichigo answered, shuffling his feet awkwardly.

"Oh! I'm sure! How could you leave us like this? We're your friends," Renji huffed. It was then that his eyes caught Shinji. "Oh I see. You're off with your little band geek, huh?"

"Don't call him that," Ichigo hissed.

Shinji was surprised at how protective and defending Ichigo was being, thankful that he was being stood up for, for once.

"I still can't believe you ditched us," Renji fumed. "For him, no less!"

"Are you so blinded by stereotypes Renji? I thought that maybe you'd be above that but it seems you've proved me wrong," Ichigo growled, eyes sparking with anger.

Renji's eyes narrowed. "You've changed Ichigo."

"No. I haven't. I'm just done acting like all the other airheads," Ichigo snapped.

"Acting?" Renji asked, bewildered.

"Yes. Acting. Acting like I thought I was better than everyone else. Acting like I thought making fun of people was funny. Acting like I actually cared about soccer. Acting like I actually liked girls for God's sake!"

Shinji flinched. _Now he's done it._

"You…don't like girls?" Renji asked slowly.

"So what? You gonna stereotype me on that too Renji?" Ichigo hissed, almost as though he were challenging Renji to do so.

"So you're telling me you are some pretty little gay fag who likes other guys?"

What happened next took everyone in the room by surprise. Ichigo's fist met Renji's face, easily propelling him into the half open door, closing it as he hit and slumped to the ground, cradling his now bleeding nose.

"Shut up Renji. And get out of my dorm," Ichigo ordered, surprisingly calm for what had just transpired.

"I don't even know you anymore," Renji said quietly, before vanishing out the door.


	8. Chapter 8

**Oh my god!! I've finally updated this story after a year on hiatus and will hopefully be continued at a fairly decent rate seeing as how my inspiration returned. Give me a break for the shortness of the chapters until I get back into the swing of things for this story. It'll happen. ^^ I don't own Bleach, there's some OOC and enjoy. ^^ **

The loud shrill of Ichigo's cell phone interrupted whatever Shinji had been planning on saying. Ichigo glanced at the ID and upon seeing Gin's name, muttered,  
"That was fast." He flipped it open. "Hello?"

"Greetings, Kurosaki-kun. The verdict was reached before I even called the headquarters. We are to destroy the machine and equations." Gin's voice was practically shaking with raw anger.

"What? You've got to be kidding me!"

"Of course, we aren't going to let this happen. Do you have any real ties to this world, Kurosaki-kun?"

"Um...not really. Well, my boyfriend," Ichigo said, feeling a bit awkward about admitting this out loud to the man who had threatened to kill him, roped him into a strange project, and frankly just creeped him out sometimes.

Shinji looked at him questioningly, but Gin was speaking again.

"Then if you don't mind, you should come with us. The rest of the team, well, we're going to explore this new dimension, military or not."

"I...really? But we don't know what-"

"We intend to find out. That is the whole point, truly, Kurosaki-kun. We don't know what this other dimension is like, but our thirst for knowledge compels us to try and find out. Surely you understand this?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I do," Ichigo sighed.

"Good. Tomorrow, eight in the morning. If you are not there, we will leave without you."

A click sounded then, informing Ichigo that Gin had hung up. Shinji touched Ichigo's shoulder, a concerned expression on his face for he was not sure exactly what had happened.

"What happened?" he asked.

"The government said no. The cowardly bastards told us to destroy everything we just created. They're too afraid of exploring a new road in the universe," Ichigo growled, eyes narrowed in anger.

"Oh god. I'm so sorry," Shinji muttered, unsure of how to comfort him after his happiness had turned so quickly to anger.

"But we're going anyways," Ichigo continued, a strange light appearing in his brown eyes. "You should come with us."

Shinji's eyes widened. "You're going? Isn't that extremely...not safe?"

"It wouldn't be much safer if the military came with us, they don't know what to expect either," Ichigo said. "I know it's a lot to ask of you, especially so soon but-"

"I'll go," Shinji said. "I have nothing to live for here, not really. My career doesn't have a high chance of going anywhere, my family and I were never on good terms.

This is my chance to do something useful and worth while. I have to go, especially if you are."

"I suddenly feel very thankful that you are with me in this," Ichigo sighed, smiling gratefully at the other.

"Kind of like eloping isn't it?" Shinji said, trying to lighten the mood.

"From who though?" Ichigo asked, wrapping a firm arm around Shinji's waist and holding him close.

"Like the man you punched in the nose. Those who hate us for who we love. Maybe in this new dimension, people will be more open minded," Shinji said, leaning forward so that their noses bumped together.

Ichigo kissed him softly, pulling Shinji closer as he did so. He was happy, happy that he would be able to see the new dimensions he had dreamed of since he was a young child, happy that Shinji would be with him the whole time, happy he was finally breaking away and being the person he was meant to be.

Shinji's hands moved to his chest, not exactly pushing him away, but not exactly accepting the deepening of the kiss. Ichigo pulled away, sensing the unease. He gently cupped the man's face, letting him know that it was okay that he wasn't ready.

"Sorry, Shinji. I'm just excited and I've got all of this pent up energy bouncing around inside me," Ichigo said. "We should probably put it towards something productive, like packing."

Shinji laughed. "Yes, of course. We should be prepared for anything."


	9. Chapter 9

**So sorry it took this chapter forever to get around, it's here now, so don't complain. Thank you to my lovely beta Rachel, you rock for beta-ing for me. ^^ Reviews are appreciated. I don't own Bleach.**

**HEY! Random contest for you all. I'm thinking of changing the title of this story, throwing the idea around. Leave suggestions and I'll try and come up with something. ^^**

"You ready?" Ichigo asked, stepping into the elevator.

Shinji nodded, shifting the backpack that held some of his clothes to the opposite shoulder. Ichigo did the same as he pressed the hidden button, removing the key as he did so, figuring he would be the last one there. Everyone else had a key anyways. The silence was oppressing as they continued down and finally the elevator slid to a halt and the doors slid open. The two stepped out.

Gin was sitting at the head of the long table and everyone else had taken their seats as well. Hitsugaya was standing, his fingers tapping nervously against the back of his chair and his usually calm expression worried.

"Glad you could make it Ichigo," Gin said, rising to his feet. As if on cue, the others did the same. "You've brought a friend I see."

"This is Shinji," Ichigo said.

"So you're ready for the sacrifice of leaving this world behind then?" Ukitake asked softly, turning to look at Shinji.

"There's nothing holding me back," Shinji replied.

"Then let's go to the lab. Urahara, I trust you can get the portal functioning and then come join us," Gin said, straightening the loose fitting shirt and jacket he wore. It was odd seeing the man in such casual clothing.

"Yes sir!" Urahara said, the only cheerful one among the group. "Come on, Yoruichi-san!"

Shinji watched, slightly puzzled by how Urahara referred to the cat as a human. Ichigo was right; the group on this project was kind of weird. He followed Ichigo into a connecting room, staring wide eyed at the magnificent machine that was displayed before him.

"So this will take us to another dimension?" Shinji asked quietly.

"Yes, it will," Gin said, a strange smile on his face, like always.

The cords sparked and then the portal began to glow a deep blue, startling Shinji further. Ichigo put a patient hand on his shoulder and swallowed thickly. This was it. They would pass through that portal to who knew where and probably be lost forever with no way home. It wasn't exactly a cheery thought but it was the likely outcome.

"Well then, I will go first. You may follow after me," Gin said.

"No. I think it would be best if I did," Urahara said, somehow making his way into the room quicker than what should've been possible. The man was full of quirks like that so Ichigo didn't bother to even question it anymore.

Gin's smile flickered. "If you insist, Urahara. But I'm sure you know what you're walking into, right?"

"Of course."

Electricity crackled in the air as the two stared at each other, Gin's eyes opening just slightly as his smiled died completely. Ichigo was now thoroughly puzzled and it looked as though everyone else was as well, no one quite sure what the two men were talking about.

A clattering noise grabbed everyone's attention and they turned to see that Yoruichi had walked into the room and dropped a rather large cane from her mouth, golden eyes glittering. Urahara knelt and picked it up, straightening his green and white striped hat as he did so before stepping past Gin, the cat trailing behind them. The blond man nodded briefly at the party and then stepped through, vanishing in a crackle of blue energy.

No more words were exchanged as one by one, the team disappeared through the portal until it was just Ichigo and Shinji left, both staring nervously at the portal. Ichigo squeezed Shinji's hand briefly before stepping through. It felt like his body had fallen asleep, small needles stabbing him everywhere though it wasn't exactly painful, more of an annoyance. When he emerged, he was in a completely dark space, only the small cat waiting for him, the rest of the team having vanished before he arrived.

Shinji bumped into him as he crossed. "Where is everyone?"

"I don't know. Yoruichi is here though," Ichigo said. "What is it girl?"

Yoruichi looked disgruntled as she meowed at them before trotting off into the darkness, a white crystal path appearing beneath her feet as she moved at a brisk pace, obviously knowing right where she was going. After exchanging a few looks and shrugs, Ichigo and Shinji followed after her, surprised at how fast the cat was able to move. After a few minutes she began to move faster until suddenly she was running forward and to keep up, the two men did the same, running after her until suddenly, they were in a large room, their motions grinding to a halt.

"Ah, and here they are."

Ichigo was suddenly grabbed abruptly, his arms being held tightly behind his back by some attacker he could not see. "Hey!"

He glanced around and saw that everyone else was in a similar predicament. Byakuya was pinned to a wall by a grinning man with long pink hair, dressed completely in white with golden eyes that seemed to glow with a glee long ago tainted by malice. A large man, larger than anyone Ichigo had ever seen before had his arms wrapped securely around both Soi Fon and Hitsugaya, his foot pressing Ukitake down to the ground though it was obvious he wasn't putting his full weight on the man. He twisted his head to see that Shinji was gripped firmly by the back of his neck my a tall man, a mop of vibrant blue hair on his head and what appeared to be the jaw bone of an animal attached to his own jaw.

"Quite an assortment you have gathered, Gin." Ichigo turned towards the front to see another man, dressed in white like all the rest, sitting in a throne, leaning on one of the arms rests with a smirk on his face, a single lock of curly brown hair falling in his dark eyes. "I have missed you two, Gin, Tousen. Though I have to admit, I could do without you, Urahara."

"Haha. So rude, Aizen," Urahara said. "Don't you know how to treat your guests? I am almost certain that Kurosaki-kun over there is quite uncomfortable with his arms twisted like that."

The man on the throne, Aizen apparently, turned and looked at Ichigo, his smirk turning into a soft smile. "Ah, Kurosaki. It has been awhile. How are you?"

"Who the hell are you?" Ichigo growled.

Aizen immediately looked bored and turned back to Urahara. "How much longer will the memory loss last?"

"Give or take a few more hours," Gin said. "We'll have killed them long before then though."

His words seemed to fuel everyone's struggling and Soi Fon shouted, "You god damned bastard! Tell us what's going on Gin! Right now!"

Gin didn't even spare her a glance.

"No. I would like to keep them alive. It will prove for a most interesting fight," Aizen said, smirking. "Ulquiorra, come here."

Another man appeared from one of the darker areas of the large room, his expression a deadpan, emerald eyes dull. His skin was inhumanly white and small green lines raced down his cheeks from his eyes, almost like little tears. What appeared to be part of some monster's skull covered the left side of his head though the jet black hair on the other side of his head remained unruly and not at all tamed.

"Yes, Aizen-sama?"

"Please escort them to Karakura."

"Yes, Aizen-sama."

"Are you fucking kidding me!" Shinji's captor shouted. "He's right here! I can kill him right now and I'll never have to put up with him again!"

"Grimmjow, now is not the time for your pathetic simpering," the person behind Ichigo said, her voice letting him know she was a girl. "Listen to Aizen-sama."

"Shut your face, bitch!"

"That's quite enough," Tousen snapped, speaking up for the first time. "I will remove your arm again Grimmjow, if I have to."

Grimmjow visibly flinched and Shinji gasped as his grip tightened on his neck. "Fine. Whatever. But I'm gonna kill you, brat. And you too, Kurosaki! Just wait!"

Shinji's eyes narrowed and Ichigo saw an anger within them that he had never seen before, an unexpected thing in the usually laid back man. The blond suddenly vanished, startling Ichigo further, and then appeared behind Grimmjow, an arm locked firmly around his neck and another around his chest, squeezing him tight.

"Huh, it's all coming back to me now," Shinji said quietly.

Ichigo swallowed thickly. That tone of voice, that sadistic quality that seemed to stand out from his normal tone, caused shivers to race down his spine and he dared not think of what could possibly be going through Shinji's mind.

Grimmjow rammed his elbow into Shinji's stomach, kicking with one of his legs at the same time, connecting both solidly and forcing Shinji away, though he didn't wince from the damage. Tousen was suddenly between them, holding a sword that Ichigo had never seen him with before, to Grimmjow's throat, his expression deadly as he did so. Grimmjow stared at the blade and backed away a few feet.

"As interesting as this is," Aizen murmured. "I would like for you to escort them out now. Halibel, Yami, Ulquiorra. You can take them."

"Yes, Aizen-sama," the woman, Halibel, said.

With a rough shove, Ichigo was set moving forward.

(INSERTBREAKHERE)

"You have so much explaining to do," Soi Fon hissed as they stood on the porch of a small looking building, a candy store according to Urahara.

They had entered another passage similar to the one they had first come through in but exited almost immediately in front of the candy store. Gin and Tousen did not come with them this time and the ones that escorted them wouldn't speak to them at all, but more surprisingly, Shinji didn't even look at Ichigo. Ichigo had no idea what to think, things were happening so quickly and something he had begun to count on as solid in his life was no longer there. Shinji had changed in the blink of an eye. It was suddenly as if the blond haired man knew exactly what was going on and had no desire at all to fill him in on any of it.

"Yes, I know," Urahara said, opening the door and stepping inside, letting the others in as well.

The shop was completely empty so it was the perfect place for discussion.

"Shinji, you may want to leave before they recover their memory," Urahara continued, looking over at the blond man. "I can tell you have recovered yours."

Shinji nodded. "Yes. I think we'll be seeing each other in the future though."  
"Wait!" Ichigo interrupted. "Why are you leaving?"

"You'll remember. When you do, maybe you will come see me," Shinji said quietly, taking one small step towards him, then, thinking better of it, stepped back and then disappeared.


	10. Chapter 10

**Here it is, before I leave for vacation or whatever. ^^ Thanks to Rachel for getting this beta-ed before I had to leave! Reviews are loved and this story will really take off when I return. I have many ideas for it in store! I do not own Bleach. **

"Ichigo is here."

Shinji looked over at Hachi. After remembering what had happened, he had returned to the warehouse that the other Vizards had promised to wait for him at and upon his arrival, he was received happily. Lisa had been crying, though she attempted not to show it and Hiyori had hugged him tightly once before jumping away, crying that it was a one time thing and would never happen again.

After that though, he requested to be alone, letting the others go about their business while he thought back and organized all of his thoughts together. It was when Aizen had launched his attack to distract them while he got Orihime. The Espadas he had sent had been stronger than they originally anticipated and to escape, Urahara had set up a makeshift portal, much like the ones that the Espadas themselves used.

Only Urahara, Hitsugaya, Yoruichi, Ichigo, and himself had been transported. Back in the Soul Society, Byakuya, Ukitake, and Soi Fon had been the ones guarding Orihime through tunnel and when Ulquiorra had appeared, she reacted out of fear and ended up transporting them as well into the between dimension, as Urahara called it, without knowing what she was doing.

After that, their memories had been wiped and then replaced by Urahara so that they could hide successfully in this other dimension while he tried to find a way to get them back home. Unfortunately, Aizen had caught onto their plan and sent Gin and Tousen to monitor their movements and find a way to travel from this new dimension back to their own. Of course, since Urahara had no choice, he went along with them. If they hadn't worked together, they never would've found their way back.

And with these memories came a great disgust for what he had done in the other dimension. He had not been himself at all. Music...was not something he casually enjoyed. Kissing Ichigo...well it wasn't something he wanted to people to know he enjoyed, especially since Ichigo would probably kill him.

So when Hachi told him that Ichigo was there and coming down the stairs, he was torn between fleeing and well...fleeing.

"Hey Baldy!" Hiyori shouted.

"Shut up!" Ichigo shouted back as he stepped down completely. He was wearing his Shinigami robes, looking just as he used to. "So where's Shinji?"

"Sulking in a corner," Kensei answered, no doubt jerking his thumb towards the other end of the training area.

Shinji listened as Ichigo walked towards him, halting beside him behind a tall rock, exactly the reason Shinji had chosen it. No one could really see him there, as childish as it sounded. Ichigo sat down beside him and the sounds of the others once again resumed as they trained and fought, just for the hell of it.

"Hey Shinji?"

"Yes, Ichigo?"

"I still love you."

Shinji didn't let his reaction show on his face, keeping his expression bored and uncaring, despite how his heart sped up a bit before once again returning to its normal pace.

"I remember everything and I still love you. You weren't yourself in that other dimension but...I was as close as I could be. And I still love you. I never expected to be gay. I mean, Orihime has a nice rack and Rukia's pretty hot and all but...I love you still. Maybe my mind's just muddled but-"

"You're rambling," Shinji interrupted quietly.

He spared a glance at Ichigo and saw that the other was blushing, scratching the back of his head awkwardly. "Uh, sorry. I just...um...I don't know what I'm saying."

Shinji laughed softly. "I know what you mean. I'm not one for heart to heart talks but I really enjoyed kissing you, Ichigo."

Ichigo's flush deepened. "S-So what do you want to do?"

Shinji turned fully to look at him, bringing their lips inches away from each other. "I kinda wanna do it again. I thought you'd hate me for it but seeing as how my feelings are returned...I think I should kiss you."

Ichigo's brown eyes widened briefly but before he could say anything, Shinji had claimed his lips, his hand going on the other side of Ichigo's head and planting itself on the rock. Shinji's tongue immediately entered his mouth, finding no resistance at all from the strawberry blond, tasting him thoroughly. After getting over the shock, Ichigo responded just as heatedly, moving his hand to the back of Shinji's neck, gasping softly as Shinji moved to straddle his hips, the kiss growing more heated as it deepened.

Shinji pulled away first, his breath slightly labored as he leaned his forehead against the rock besides Ichigo's head. "So...What did Urahara tell you. And what of that captains?"

"The captain's went back to Soul Society. I'm going after Orihime," Ichigo murmured.

"You aren't ready yet. We've just gotten our memories back, you can't expect to even hold your hollow mask for longer than what you did before all of this happened," Shinji said quietly.

"I don't care. I have to save her. Soul Society won't help. Even now, after all this time, after Aizen hasn't made a move since we left, they think Orihime left of her own choosing," Ichigo muttered, twining an arm around Shinji's waist and holding him closer.

"I'll go with you."

"I thought Vizards didn't get mixed up in Soul Reaper business."

"You aren't an actual Soul Reaper. You're one of us," Shinji said quietly.

Ichigo bit his lip. It was true, for some reason. He wasn't a Soul Reaper, and it turned out, he wasn't even really a deputy Soul Reaper either. He was a Vizard and training to be a stronger one like all of the others.

"I knew I was different," Ichigo said. "When I fought Byakuya. My hollow took me over. He's still there, being an ass and generally mocking all of my thoughts. But I control him now."

Shinji pulled back a little, socking his head to the side. "He tells you that eventually he'll take over, doesn't he? All of ours do, except for Mashiro of course, but she got off easy with everything."

"So...I should probably go back to Urahara's for a bit, get things sorted out with Uryu, Chad, and everyone else. I'll come back for training tomorrow," Ichigo told him.

"Alright. Don't...don't let the Soul Reapers know you are a Vizard. Things could get sticky."

"I'm already disobeying their orders as is, I think I'm okay," Ichigo said dryly.

"I'll be with you the whole time so we'll be safe. We'll save Orihime and then we'll take on Aizen," Shinji said. "Everything will work out."

"You know, you really aren't a heartless bastard like I first thought you were," Ichigo commented. "I mean, you weren't yourself at all after your memory got wiped but this isn't exactly like the you I remember either."

Shinji waved a hand dismissively. "I act rather different to those I care about."

Ichigo smirked. "I'm glad we've sorted this out. I'll see you tomorrow."

Shinji moved off of him and stood, giving him a hand up at the same time. "Yes. Hiyori has probably missed beating the shit out of you. And now that you're out of practice, she'll have even more fun. You know that she doesn't really believe in going easy on someone if they've slacked off."

"I haven't slacked off!" Ichigo cried. "I was in a god damn other dimension and didn't know who I was! How can you call that slacking off!"

Shinji grinned. "Kidding, strawberry. Now get out of here. We'll train for two more days and then we're off to Heuco Mundo."

Ichigo smiled back and took off for the stairs.

(INSERTBREAKHERE)

Ichigo knocked on Uryu's door, shuffling his feet awkwardly as he prepared to meet the Quincy after being away for so long. Sure, he had probably known Ichigo had returned when he felt the spirit pressure appear again but they still weren't exactly the closest of friends so who knew what would happen, especially since he wasn't supposed to associate himself with Soul Reapers in order to get his powers back.

The door opened and a stone faced Ishida stared at him.

"Hello, Ichigo."

"Hey, Uryu. I'm...back," he said.

"Yes, I can see that," Ishida said, a slight smirk twisting the corner of his lips up. "When are we going to go save Orihime? Who knows what they have done to her by now."

"As soon as I finish my training," Ichigo replied.

"Training?" Ishida raised a thin, dark eye brow. "I don't think we really have the luxury of time, Ichigo."

"I know, I know. Just give me a few days and we can meet at Urahara's, alright?" Ichigo asked. "I need to finish some things up, try and get a little bit stronger."

"I just said we don't have the luxury of time, Ichigo," Ishida said firmly. "We should leave as soon as possible. Tomorrow night, at the latest."

Ichigo glanced at the ground. "Fine. Tomorrow night then."

"That's what I thought. Go talk to Chad. He's been worried about you."

"Didn't you feel me come back?" Ichigo asked.

"Yes, but seeing you just makes us feel a bit better," Ishida said quietly. "We thought you would never come back and if you did, someone would kill you before you remembered who you were."

"We are friends, aren't we?"

"You doubted it?" Ishida asked.

"No I just...needed to reassure myself I guess."

"Yes, we're friends Ichigo. All of us. That's why we're going to save Orihime together. You aren't technically a Soul Reaper so it's alright if I go with you. Even if it wasn't..." Ishida hesitated. "Anyway, you should go talk to Chad."

Ichigo nodded. "Right."


	11. Chapter 11

**So here is the next chapter of Half Jack. There's a poll on my account page on changing the title so if you could pop by and check that out, that'd be great. :D Thanks Rachel for beta-ing. I don't own Bleach.**

"It's strange," Lisa said quietly the next morning as she watched Ichigo and Hiyori train, the blonde girl yelling obscenities at Ichigo all the while.

"What is?" Shinji asked, glancing over at her.

"His time with the hollow mask has increased dramatically. It's almost as like being away in that other dimension made him stronger," she muttered, fixing her glasses. "It doesn't make sense. He can hold it for nineteen seconds longer than he did when he left."

"Maybe his hollow is finally beginning to cooperate," Shinji said.

Lisa frowned, not quite convinced. "I'm not sure. But I guess it doesn't matter, especially since you two are leaving tonight. Which I still don't understand by the way."

"What do you mean?" He looked at her now, unsure of what she was trying to say.

"I don't understand why _you_ are going. It isn't any of our business."

"I made it my business when I fell in love with him," Shinji said quietly.

Lisa's eyes flashed angrily as she glared at Shinji. "You fell in love with him in a different dimension, Shinji! You two were both dramatically different and you never got along before hand!"

"Quiet, you're distracting him," Shinji said lowly. "And I'm not expecting you to understand, Lisa, just accept the fact, alright?"

"How can I when I disagree with it?" she snapped. "Maybe you haven't fully recovered yet..."

Shinji lost his patience now, glaring at the woman heatedly. "I have recovered, completely. It's just somethings I do not want to give up and Ichigo and I have talked it over. We want this, it's mutual, and we, or at least _I,_ don't care what you think."

Lisa pursed her lips and looked away, obviously angry at Shinji's words. "Fine. Whatever. But..."

"But what?" he snapped, growing angry. He wanted to end this but the infuriating woman just kept dragging it out.

"I'm going with you. I'm going to keep you in line and convince you that _he_ isn't worth it."

Shinji stopped himself from snapping and nodded. "Fine. I'll accept that."

"Good, because even if you didn't, I'd go anyways."

"Bitch."

(INSERTBREAKHERE)

"So we have a Vizard joining us?" Urahara asked.

The group was gathered in the basement of Urahara's shop, ready and prepared to go after Orihime. Uryu, Chad, Ichigo, Shinji, and Lisa all stood there, all of them determined.

"Uh, Urahara-san. There are 3 Vizards," Ichigo said.

"Oh, I know. But we have a new one it seems," the shop owner said, fixing Lisa with a stare.

She stared right back, defiant, a typical Lisa thing to do. "I'm here to keep Shinji in line."

"But don't you have your own...grudge, against Aizen? Isn't this a perfect chance for you to exact that revenge?" Urahara asked coolly.

Lisa faltered now, for only a moment. "Our business is our business. Not yours."

Several tense moments passed and Uryu couldn't help but shift awkwardly. Finally, though, Urahara chuckled.

"All right. I'll open the portal. Remember, use your reitsu to create a path, otherwise you'll fall through and well...you might never come back," Urahara said, nonchalant with his words.

Uryu and Chad nodded their understanding while Lisa and Shinji glanced away, obviously confident in their abilities. Ichigo however, didn't look very sure of himself.

"You mean there's no way of us coming back if we fall?" he asked.

"Well, I'm not sure what happens nor am I too keen to find out," Urahara told him, smirking. "But you'll be fine."

"Don't worry, Kurosaki-kun. I won't let you fall," Shinji said, smiling at him, though it wasn't his usual leering grin.

Lisa snorted. "This isn't the time for your disgusting romance."

Shinji glared at her but then turned his attention to Urahara. "Thank you, Urahara-san. We will return when we can."

"How do we get back though?" Chad asked, his deep voice startling Lisa since she had never heard the big man speak before, having just met him.

"There's a responding portal in Los Noches that corresponds with this one and the one in the other dimension. Go there. I _will_ get you back," Urahara told them.

"You're so lucky I trust you Urahara," Ichigo said.

"Or what, you wouldn't save Orihime?" Urahara challenged.

Ichigo opened his mouth to respond but upon finding nothing to say, stopped.

Uryu sensed his frustration and quickly interrupted. "We're wasting time. We should go."

"The Quincy's right," Lisa agreed. "Let's just go."

"Alright then. I'll see you when you return," Urahara said.

"With Orihime," Ichigo said, grinning his trademark cocky grin.

"Yes. Yes of course."

(INSERTBREAKHERE)

"Oh for the love of God. Learn reitsu control!" Lisa fumed, watching Ichigo struggle with making a reitsu path.

Ichigo glared at her but to avoid further argument, Shinji grabbed Ichigo's sword and strapped it to his own back abruptly. After this, he picked the strawberry blond up, striding up towards where the others were waiting.

"You don't have to do this," Ichigo grumbled.

"The Espada use the same place we are using to travel. I don't want to risk a battle with them when you can't move well," Shinji said. "It'd be best if we got out of here quickly."

"Sorry. I don't know why my control is so out whack after I managed to control my hollow form better."

They were in Lisa's ear shot by now.

"You better learn how to control it soon," she snapped. "You're lucky Shinji loves you."

"Lisa. Not now."

Lisa turned her nose up and continued on her way, Uryu being the only one able to keep up with her easily.

"You know, you really don't have to be so hard on him," Uryu said quietly. "He's trying as hard as he can. He just isn't used to controlling his reitsu very well. It was never a strong point of his."

"Don't try to defend him _Quincy_." Her voice was filled with contempt and Uryu sighed. The prejudice never seemed to go away.

"I'll defend him because he's my friend."

"Hah! A Soul Reaper, friends with a Quincy? We'll see what happens when you're in danger. He'll abandon you because it'll be too much work to try and help you."

Uryu shook his head. "If that were true, I'd be dead by now. There have been plenty of times Ichigo could've left me to die, but he didn't. He's different from other Soul Reapers, and different from you."

Lisa, now disgruntled by Uryu's easy comebacks, turned away and moved a little bit faster.

(INSERTBREAKHERE)

"Toshiro, you're insane."

Hitsugaya avoided Ukitake's gaze. "I know that it would be treason. But I feel like I need to do something. Just sitting here and letting it happen just doesn't sit right with me."

Ukitake sighed. While the other Captains had easily slid back into their roles, Hitsugaya had struggled the past few days, forgetting his duties, forgetting the rules, but remembering his life in the other dimension just fine. That he did often, zoning out when he was supposed to be doing something else, and Ukitake worried that perhaps Hitsugaya had not fully recovered. Perhaps, it would be a better idea to put Rangiku back on Captain duty for awhile.

And then there was this. The young Captain had approached Ukitake on several occasions, asking why they couldn't go help Orihime.

"Saving Orihime is not our job. The Chief Captain has strictly prohibited taking actions to saving her," Ukitake said quietly. "It does not bode well with me either but we must obey what he says."

"You didn't obey him when Rukia was in danger. How is this different?" Hitsugaya demanded.

"It just is, Hitsugaya-kun! Please don't try to disobey," Ukitake ordered. "Perhaps you aren't completely healed. I suggest you go visit Squad 4."

Frustrated, but not smart enough to push it, Hitsugaya nodded and stood. "Yes, you're right."

As the smaller Captain stalked off, Ukitake had a strange feeling that something bad would be happening in the near future.

(INSERTBREAKHERE)

"I have to say, Hitsugaya-taicho. I never expected you to even acknowledge my existence let alone come to me for help."

Hitsugaya resisted the urge to cringe when Zaraki Kenpachi threw his head back and laughed. The scarred man grew serious abruptly, fixing Hitsugaya with a deadly stare.

"Joking aside, why are you here? I know your morals don't match up with mine so why in the hell are you asking me for help?"

Hitsugaya smirked, trying to come off as in control when he really wasn't. He didn't feel at all...like himself, and he knew that if Zaraki picked up on it, the man would see him as prey and be on him like a cat on a mouse...or rather a lion on a cat.

"Well you see, Zaraki-taicho, for once, our morals are going to match up," he said.

Zaraki grinned, obviously elated at the thought of one of the most pure Captains taking the first step down into insanity. "Care to explain more."

"I want to save Orihime. But I don't know how to get to her and no one will help me because it's treason to go after her," Hitsugaya said.

"What, you in love with her or something?" Zaraki asked. "Thought getting with humans was beneath you or some other random shit that makes no sense."

"It's not that!" Hitsugaya snapped. "I just don't want her to die again."

"Again?"

"In the other life. Seeing her die...it may have not been real but either way, I don't want to risk letting her die by doing nothing," he said, hating that he was admitting that he wasn't fully recovered. It was a weakness that he was sure Zaraki would take advantage of. Instead though, the other Captain nodded.

"Alright. So I think we need to get to the human world and talk to that Urahara guy," he said.

Hitsugaya tried not to look surprised at Zaraki's willingness to help. "But how do we get there without alerting anyone?"

The creepy grin split Zaraki's face again. "Leave that to me. I'll contact you later."

"Don't expect me to ever say this again but...thank you."

Zaraki stood, towering over Hitsugaya as he did so. "Yeah sure. Whatever."

As the 11th Captain strode away, Hitsugaya released a breath he hadn't realized her had been holding. No sooner was he gone though, Ikkaku appeared by his side, obviously not minding that he was intruding into his Captain's private chamber.

Hitsugaya looked over at the bald Vice Captain, wary as to what his intentions were. "May I help you, Ikkaku-san?"

"Yeah, actually," Ikkaku said. "Don't get mad but I was listening in on your conversation with Kenpachi-taicho. I would like to help you."

Hitsugaya raised a thin white eyebrow. "Why?"

Ikkaku stared Hitsugaya in the eyes. "We all know you're still a little fucked in the head."

"Thanks, Ikkaku-san," Hitsugaya said sarcastically.

Ikkaku chuckled. "Sorry. But anyways. If Zaraki's willing to help, I think I should too. He may not look it, but he's worried about you, and what you said. Whoever Zaraki cares for, I care for."

"I wouldn't say he _cares_ for me," Hitsugaya said.

"Zaraki cares for anyone who understands that sometimes the Chief Captain isn't always right in his judgments," Ikkaku explained.

"That's some twisted logic."

Ikkaku smirked. "Don't complain. You now have two of the strongest fighters on your side."

Hitsugaya nodded. "Thank you for helping me."

"Should I guess you'll probably never say that to me again?" Ikkaku asked.

Hitsugaya just smirked.

(INSERTBREAKHERE)

"Aizen-sama. They have arrived."

"Good. Send Nnoitra, Yami, and Szayel to deal with them."

"Getting bold are we?"

"Perhaps."


	12. Chapter 12

**Hey it only took me forever to get this out. Psh, sorry. And I'm actually updating this myself this time, though Pennatus will probably post everything else for me again. . Anyways, enjoy, and I don't own Bleach. Thanks for still reading this even though it's so crappy and weird. Reviews are loved. **

"Let me come with you, please Nnoitra-sama."

Nnnoitra narrowed his dark eye in annoyance at Tesla's voice. "God damn, Tesla. No. I can handle it myself. I want to fight _alone._"

Tesla watched Nnoitra sharpen his moon shaped scythe and worried his bottom lip with his teeth, trying not to speak out again. This technique proved futile and soon, Tesla was arguing again.

"Please, Nnoitra-sama. I...cannot let you put yourself in harm's way without me," Tesla blurted.

Nnoitra let out a slow and dramatic sigh, slowly turning around and glaring at him with his one visible eye, the other covered by the white eye patch. He took a few leisurely steps towards Tesla, taking his time crossing the wide space between them. Tesla tensed when Nnoitra stopped before him, looming a good two feet over the blond, his inky black hair falling like curtains and blocking out his side vision.

He brought one hand up and put it right beside his left ear, then doing the exact same thing on the other side with his other hand.

"Tesla. You make it sound like I'm _weak._" As he said this, he slammed his right fist into the wall, his eye boring into Tesla's. Tesla shuddered when he heard the wall crack right beside his ear.  
"I don't need _help._"

Nnoitra's left clenched and punched the wall as well, causing the whole thing to shake.

"If I die because I was too weak, I shouldn't be _alive._"

At the last word, Nnoitra struck the wall with both fists and Tesla squeezed his eyes shut as the wall trembled and suddenly crumbled behind him. As the crashing sound finally died down, Tesla tentatively opened his eyes. Nnoitra was glaring down at him, his breathing slightly winded.

"Do you understand?" Nnoitra's voice was deathly quiet and calm, contradicting the raw look of anger on his face.

Tesla nodded. "I understand Nnoitra-sama. But I still want to go with you. If you do die, I would like to say goodbye."  
"Dammit Tesla..." Nnoitra's voice was soft but the anger had drained from his face. "I don't deserve you..."

"You deserve much more than me," Tesla told him firmly. "So? May I accompany you?"

Nnoitra nodded, defeated. As the blond embraced the Espada, Tesla though about how different Nnoitra was when one knew how to look under the surface. The two were in a sort of romantic relationship, though Tesla knew in the human world, it would be an abusive one. He was beaten and bloodied but he didn't care, because he understood that it was just how Nnoitra was; if you wanted Nnoitra, you got all of him, the violence, the anger, the gentleness, and the love.

It was twisted maybe, but for his Espada, Tesla would give everything.

(INSERTBREAKHERE)

Ishida was the first to pass through the darkness and into the brightly lit room that lay somewhere in Heuco Mundo. The light was so unexpected, he almost stumbled, and the rest of the group crashed into him, making them look very uncoordinated, which was bad seeing as how their enemies were already waiting for them.

_Awesome. Great entrance, _Ichigo thought, straightening and sizing the enemies up. He searched his memories, which were still hard to get to in some cases, even if he was now completely back to normal personality wise. His mind told him that he faced Yami, and the other three...he didn't remember ever fighting.

The one to Yami's right was tall, with a girlish finger and bright pink hair, framing a delicate face with rectangular glasses perched on the edge of his nose. A smug smile split his narrow face, and Ichigo had the overwhelming urge to punch it right off, though he doubted it would be that easy. And to the left, was an even taller man, and somehow, even thinner, his white outfit clinging to his every curve, clashing with the inky black hair that spilled down perfectly straight. A sadistic grin moved slowly across his face as his single eyed gaze looked over them, and he shifted his huge two bladed scythe to rest on his shoulder. Beside him stood a smaller man, more normal looking then the rest, with tousled blond brown hair. He had an eyepatch, covering the same eye as the man next to him, though there was obviously no other similarities.

"Well, this ain't much of a welcoming committee, isn't it?" Shinji commented.

"Oh you would do well not to underestimate us," the pink haired one said. "Nnoitra, Yami, I'm going to pick a few off. The...interesting ones, shall I say? Ta-ta!"

Ishida felt the ground beneath him vanish, but before he or his friends could react, he was vanished beneath the green tiled floor. Trying not to appear too panicked, Ichigo looked around, wanting to know who else was gone. Lisa. By the time he looked back, the slim man was gone as well, leaving only Yami, Nnoitra, and the other man, who still went nameless.

"Eh, bummer for you. If you had gone with Szayel, you might've gotten away alive," Nnoitra said, his sadistic grin growing more creepy by the moment.

"Now you're underestimating us," Ichigo said lowly.

The smaller man smirked. "Do you even remember enough to fight?"

"Let's find out." Ichigo was done with thinking; in his mind, actions spoke louder than words.

Before he could reach the dirty blond however, the gigantic scythe swung and hit him in the side. Thankfully, Nnoitra wasn't going for a killing blow, and only hit him with the flat side of the blade, but the hit was strong enough to send him crashing into the nearest pristine white wall. that move immediately filled him with doubt. Maybe he really _wasn't_ ready to fight. _Too late to go back now though. _

Shinji moved in front of Ichigo, calling upon his hollow mask as he did so. As Ichigo stood, his eyes found Chad, who had already engaged the tenth Espada, and he also looked to be winning.

"You should know not to take your eyes off the enemy!" Nnoitra called, voice mocking. "And another thing, Tesla there?" He gestured at the blond, a look of disgust crossing his face. "Ignore him. You don't fight him. He's here to observe. Got that?"

"Less work for us," Shinji muttered, and then lunged forward.

Nnoitra swung again, but Shinji twisted out of the way easily, landing a few feet away, but it left the Espada wide open for Ichigo to attack. The Espada leapt away at the last second, so Ichigo only managed to slice open a shallow cut. Two against one and they were already losing, or at least it felt like it, but at least Tesla actually did stay out of the way. The two attacked once more, this time their moves much more coordinated, as if they had been doing it all their lives. Maybe they had. After his recent experiences, Ichigo wasn't about to dismiss any possibility of time paradoxes either.

Nnoitra let out a growl and then with a grunt, heaved his scythe forward with surprising speed and accuracy. Shinji dove aside but before Ichigo could duck into a roll, the scythe hit him, or tried to at least, for the two prongs sunk into the wall behind him, effectively pinning him to the wall. If he had ducked, his head could've been lopped off, or he could've lost a limb. Nnoitra was closer to him now though, and he took his time closing in on Ichigo. If Shinji moved to help, Nnoitra would reach him first and kill him all before Shinji could even get close enough to do anything, so instead, Ichigo tightened his grip on his sword.

"Hm, so weak. Ulquiorra showed us such a fiery beast. I suppose you really have changed," Nnoitra mused, grabbing the scythe of his handle.

"Why don't you release me and will have a fight fair and square. Then we'll see how cocky you are," Ichigo growled.

Nnoitra's visible eye widened and he grinned. "Ah there's some fight in you. That's what I want to see."

He ripped the scythe away and Ichigo sprang forward, swinging his sword forward. Nnoitra ducked and blocked his hit with the handle of his scythe, and blocking Shinji's with the blade itself. For several moments, the three didn't move and then all at once, they sprang away, eyeing one another tensely.

"What number are you?" Ichigo finally asked. _Is releasing my Bankai worth it? If he's high enough, I'm going for it..._

"Five. Which means I'm stronger than that pussy Grimmjow," Nnoitra snarled, anger flitting over his features.

"Oh, then I'll be able to take you just fine," Shinji sighed, grinning beneath the mask. "Time to get serious, eh Ichigo?"

Ichigo smirked. "I suppose so...Bankai!" The air whipped around him as his Soul Reaper uniform became tighter and expanded out into his bankai form.

Nnoitra didn't look the least bit worried as Ichigo and Shinji moved to either side of him, and was still grinning his slightly unhinged grin. Shinji raised his hands up as Ichigo rose his sword, and then, in one breath and in one movement, they both shouted.

"Getsuga Tensho!"

"Cero!"

Red and black light lit up the room with a flash, momentarily blinding everyone, and Ichigo felt a rush of confidence zip through him. He hadn't seen Nnoitra dodge, so they must've gotten the cocky bastard. His confidence vanished instantly when he felt the cold of metal press up against his neck, Nnoitra's spiritual pressure exploding into existence right next to him. With a stifled gasp, he ducked and then flash stepped away. _What the hell? _

"Ichigo, what happened?"

Ichigo whipped around, almost running Chad through with his sword in surprise. "I don't know. Where's Yami?"

Chad waved his hand behind him and Ichigo peered around his friend's big form to see Yami passed out and bleeding on the ground, not dead, but definitely unconscious.

"Three on one? Now this is hardly fair," Nnoitra commented, the familiar superiority leaking from his voice.

"You seem to be handling yourself just fine, Nnoitra-sama," Tesla called from his spot by the wall.

Nnoitra's eye narrowed and then closed as he sighed. "Tesla. Shut your damn mouth. I could've made you stay behind you know."

"Yes, Nnoitra-sama."

Shinji's hollow mask was gone, though Ichigo knew it wasn't from him tiring out; the blond man could hold the mask in position for days without breaking a sweat, most likely. Their eyes met, both now quite aware that the Fifth Espada had some tricks up his sleeve that they had never seen before.

"This room will work against you," Nnoitra said smugly. "Good to know Szayel is good _for something_, eh Tesla?"

"Yes Nnoitra-sama."

Ichigo bristled at Tesla's complacency. How dare he insult his identity, saying he couldn't remember himself enough to fight, when he himself had no identity, and instead only blindly followed after Nnoitra?

"You're just an ignorant follower Tesla," Ichigo snapped. If he could foster hostility, maybe he could weaken Nnoitra, just a little, just enough to get an edge. "But you can't even tell, can you?"  
"Foolish assumptions. I follow Nnoitra-sama because of who he is. I know things. I am not blind to how he uses me. I just don't care, and I am content that way," Tesla replied airily.

"You have no will of your own," Ichigo muttered. "That's not right."

"Hey Strawberry Brat. I'm your opponent," Nnoitra drawled. "Or have you forgotten?"  
Shinji flash stepped forward, seizing the small opportunity Nnoitra's distraction served. Again, Nnoitra spun and met the attack easily, sending Shinji through the air. The blond Vizard recovered neatly, blasting a quick Cero right as Chad sent a blast of energy towards the Espada through his arms. The floor opened up, so quick if Ichigo had blinked he would have missed it, and Nnoitra vanished. The tiled square beside Shinji opened again and the Espada reappeared, taking a slice at Shinji. Shinji was aware enough to only get cut on the arm, but it was deep, and made the Vizard stagger.

Ichigo was by his side instantly, ready to protect the blond in an instant. Shinji growled low in his throat and called up his mask, shaking his arm as if that would make the wound disappear or heal. Eyes watching Nnoitra carefully, Ichigo summoned his own mask, swallowing thickly. It was time to end this. If he and Shinji worked together, perhaps they could kill Nnoitra, but only if they could get the timing down perfectly, and only if Shinji followed the signals he sent.

He lunged for the ground, rolling a ways away but keeping himself low to the ground, eyes darting from Shinji to Nnoitra, and then pointing subtly at himself. Shinji gave no sign that he understood his message, but Chad gave him a brief thumbs up before lunging at Nnoitra, aiming a careful punch, not meant to meet it's mark, but instead meant to make Nnoitra dodge back. Cocky as always, Nnoitra leapt back and swung his scythe, narrowly missing Chad. Finally getting the message, Shinji attacked again, hitting the Espada just hard enough to send him back towards Ichigo.

Ichigo felt the floor drop beneath him, just as he thought it would. He was right where Nnoitra would land, and he knew now that the floor would give way if the Espada wanted it to, and he also knew that the Espada could use that moment of disappearance to regain control. Except this time, Ichigo fell with him, into some pitch black tube.

"What the fuck!" Nnoitra hissed, slamming into Ichigo as they moved swiftly through the tip.

"You may be strong but you aren't smart," Ichigo growled, voice taking on the odd quality that it often did when his hollow mask was summoned up. "Getsuga Tensho!"

Red and black light exploded and Ichigo was thrown back as the energy raced through him, down his sword and straight into the 5th Espada. The man's cry echoed loudly throughout the room. Yes room. Somehow they had ended up back inside the huge cavernous white room when he had attacked, but Ichigo wasn't complaining. His eyes found Nnoitra's bloodied body, eyes widening as his mask fell away.

The fifth Espada had a large gash in his chest, where blood was pouring openly, oozing onto the ground in a thick slow moving red stream. Tesla had collapsed beside him, hands cradling the man's face tenderly. He was too far away to hear any words, but reality hit him like a punch in the stomach. He had always thought of Espada's abstractly, even before the odd dimension switch. He hadn't considered them human. But if they weren't at least somewhat human, than what was it that was before his eyes.

Tesla leaned down, pressed his lips to Nnoitra's before drawing out his own sword, not even looking back at Shinji or the others.

"What are you doing!" Ichigo shouted, unable to believe what he was about to see.

Tesla turned to face him, anger in his visible eye. "Finishing what you started. He's in pain, but he knows he's going to die. If you won't kill him like a warrior would, I will."

With a growl, the man swung the sword down, slicing open the Espada's throat and ending his life in one fell swoop. Ichigo swallowed tightly, getting to his feet. Now that Nnoitra was gone, he had to take care of his follower too; it would mean less trouble later on. But before any of the three could move, Tesla faced them again, a sardonic grin on his face.

"Don't bother. I'm nothing without Nnoitra. Just leave me be."

The sword clattered to the ground and Tesla once again turned away, not bothering to look at them. Before Ichigo could say anything though, Shinji had flash stepped to Tesla's side and with one neat movement, had snapped his neck. The body went rigid and then collapsed on top of Nnoitra's, lifeless.

"It had to be done," Shinji said, walking slowly towards Ichigo, extending a hand to help him up upon reaching him.

"I know. But..."

"They seem much more human now," Chad finished, voice gruff.

Shinji shrugged. "That's what war is about. I thought you two knew that."

"We do," Ichigo protested. "It doesn't make it feel any better though."

"No, it doesn't." Shinji moved to embrace him but then stopped. That's what the other Shinji would do. The real Shinji would let Ichigo accept the pain on his own, so that he could learn from it and grow stronger. Ichigo didn't need coddling, especially not now. "Let's go. We need to find Lisa and Ishida."

(INSERTBREAKHERE)

_Of all the people I got stuck with, it has to be her, _Ishida thought bitterly, eyes sliding to look over at the female Vizard, who was staring at Szayel, a look of concentration on her face. _Even if I don't like her, maybe she'll be worth something. _He switched his gaze to loo around the room, analyzing his surroundings.  
The room was large, and extended so far it faded into complete darkness. Behind them was a wall, cutting off any retreat, unless they could get around Szayel which was doubtful to be honest. The only way they could get out would be to kill him, as far as he could see. Even if they _did_ manage to outrun the Espada, he didn't want to run into total darkness, while worrying about whether or not Szayel was going to catch them, especially when he couldn't see what might be in that darkness.  
_So I can't run away. Guess we've got to fight, _Ishida thought, calling upon his spirit bow.

"Oh this will be delightful," Szayel sighed happily, clapping like a cheerful child. "A Vizard and a Quincy. You will make lovely test subjects."

"Everyone wants to experiment on me. You're not very original," Ishida muttered, mind straying to a certain soul reaper captain.

"You're not that interesting," Lisa sniffed, drawing her blade.

"We aren't going to win if we bicker," Ishida said, raising his bow and firing a few test shots, wondering how the Espada would move.

Szayel smirked, and to Ishida's surprise, didn't move an inch. Eyes widening, both Vizard and Quincy watched in amazement as the spirit arrows disintegrated right before hitting the Esapada. The pink haired devil's smirk extended into a grin at their bewildered expressions.

"I have seen you fight before, Quincy-kun. Being the scientist I am, I have modified this room to destroy all spirit particles useless, rendering your attacks unusable!" Szayel clapped gleefully. "Delightful, isn't it?"

"The happiness is truly overwhelming," Ishida grumbled, disengaging his spider web bow. _Too bad he doesn't know I came prepared for a situation like this. But I can't let him know that just yet. Plus I doubt he's ever seen Lisa fight, and he's probably only able to stop my attacks from some sort of research. Even after seeing our attacks, he can't immediately modify this room to render them useless. He's too cocky, and we'll have to take advantage of that weakness._

__He glanced over at Lisa, and to his pleasant surprise, he saw the same thoughts flickering behind her eyes; maybe she wasn't so bad anymore. She flash stepped away from him, approaching Szayel but darting away before he could blast her with Cero, giving Ishida a good fair amount of time to analyze how fast he could attack and react to her moves. All the while, the Espada was grinning, unaware of how he himself was being studied. _And he calls himself a scientist. _He was fast enough with his Cero blasts, though the Quincy had seen faster, and he had yet to see the Espada draw his blade. Hopefully it would never get to that point. Sure they had an advantage, but that didn't mean Szayel was _weak._ He was an Espada for a reason, and he couldn't forget that. If they got too cocky, then their advantage would be gone.

_All right, _he thought. _I know what to do now._

(INSERTBREAKHERE)

Hitsugaya still wasn't sure how Zaraki had gotten permission to leave for the human world, nor did he really care. In less than an hour after their talk, he found himself sitting on a rock in the basement of Urahara's shop as the man activated the portal, going through several safety procedures, and lecturing them on what they would find on the other side.

"Yeah, yeah okay we get it," Kenpachi said dismissively, approaching the dark portal calmly. "Let's go boys."

"Hai Taicho," Ikkaku said, grinning before leaping through, racing up and away, completely out of sight.

Kenpachi looked back at Hitsugaya expectantly. Sighing, the snow haired captain stood up, crossing his arms across his chest stubbornly. "I appreciate your help but don't expect me to accept being called one of your boys. And you definitely shouldn't expect me to call you Taicho."

The unhinged captain cracked a crooked grin, chuckling as he did so. "Come on pipsqueak. You wanna save the doll, then hurry your ass up."

Hitsugaya rolled his eyes, said a hurried thank you to Urahara and then leaped through the portal.


	13. Chapter 13

**So yeah I finished the next chapter. My goal is to be done with this by summer's end and then I'll rewrite the sucky beginning chapters. Oh yeah. And I apologize for the inaccuracies you will no doubt find in the Espada's and Ishidia's abilities. :P K. I don't own Bleach and reviews are reviewed. Yeah. You heard me. **

"Hey Lisa. You good at distractions?" Ishida asked, keeping his voice steady and calm even though he felt like he was shaking inside.

As a response, Lisa charged forward, whipping out her sword and summoning her hollow mask and with a battle cry, swung at Szayel. The Espada leapt aside and Ishida began moving, pulling out his secret weapons as he did so. Seele Schneiders. They were weapons of the Quincy race, arrows that could be used as swords, or used for something much bigger, which was what he had in mind. As Lisa fought the Espada, Ishida dropped each of the Seele Schneiders in a very specific shape, meeting Lisa's eyes in a secret message to keep Szayel in the area he had placed the iron rods at.

He leapt back out of the way, summoning forth his bow as he did so. Lisa seemed to get the hint and flipped back, but before Szayel could even think of moving after them, Ishida leapt forward, touching a hand to one of the Seele Schneiders and pumping his spiritual energy into it. Szayel froze as blue lines lanced around him in the shape of a pentagon, the lines connecting where Ishida had dropped the other Seele Schneiders.

"I have more than one way of fighting, Szayel," Ishida said, pushing up his glasses as he straightened. "It would be good of you not to underestimate your opponent.

The lines glowed brighter and then from each corner shot a new line, lancing straight for the pink haired devil at the center, who was just not grasping the gravity of the situation. He struggled to move but found himself rooted to the ground and then, he was lost in a sea of blue spiritual energy and smoke as everything exploded. Ishida glanced at Lisa side long and saw she was unable to keep the expression of awe off of her face. _Hm, that will show her. _

As the glow and smoke died away though, there stood Szayel, flesh burned and the top half of his uniform gone but still alive and panting, fiery anger in his golden eyes. Lisa whipped her head towards Ishida, her own glare in her eyes as well as the question of what the hell had gone wrong. He just shrugged, unable to come up with a good answer, seeing as how he was unsure himself.

"You think...just because I haven't seen those weapons...means I will die?" Szayel panted, his golden eyes taking on a crazy tint. "I have your reitsu! Even with a new weapon I still minimize the damage!" He straightened, grinning slowly as he cracked his neck. "I have both of your identities logged and so even your most powerful attack won't be able to kill me."

He turned away from them, as if they were no threat, and honestly, Ishida was beginning to think so as well. Out of the darkness hobbled a smaller ranking hollow which Szayel snatched up with one hand, sinking his teeth into the shoulder of the humanoid beast and tearing away, crunching on it as he dropped the thing, letting it roll on the ground screaming. As he turned back towards them, he kicked the thing out of sight again and swallowed.

"No!" Ishida hissed, watching as the burns vanished, leaving a completely undamaged Szayel behind.

"My minions are my way to heal, as I'm sure you've noticed. As long as I have them, I am immortal! I will never die!" he cackled, his laughter serving to piss the two fighters off even more. Calming down slightly, the pink haired man pointed at them with a shaking finger. "Now prepare to die!"

With a flourish, he drew his blade and a bright light flashed up around him, blinding them both momentarily as they looked away, gasping. When the light finally died and they were able to once more look upon their opponent, Ishida felt his heart drop to his stomach. It appeared that they had underestimated Szayel and now they were caught in their own trap.

"Ishida. I hope you have a plan."

Ishida didn't look away from the monster that was now Szayel. From his back sprouted the pale purple skeletal structure of wings, with long red strips dangling from the ridges. His nails had extended to the length of claws and were a deep violet, almost black, and his skull piece had extended around his face, dropping down alongside his cheeks, one of which was streaked with purple. Instead of legs, he now had a swarming mass of tentacles that made Lisa want to run screaming the other direction. But if she did that she would promptly be met by a wall.

From the red strips sprouted two dolls, grotesque in every way, both shaped to the appearance of Ishida and Lisa, giving them just one more reason to be worried.

"See these?" Szayel cooed. "Their Voodoo dolls. Anything I do to them, will happen to you. I can crush all your internal organs and you'll be completely useless! Isn't it delightful?"

"Charming," Lisa growled, readying her sword. "Don't have a plan Ishida? I have one. Charge and go crazy."

Without waiting for his permission, she sprung forward, hacking apart one of the tentacles that shot for her.

"Lisa!" Ishida shouted, drawing up his bow and firing rapidly as one of the tentacles reached for the doll of the woman vizard. The tentacle recoiled at the last second but more reached for it, and so Ishida shot at those too, unleashing the arrows as fast as he could without harming the dolls himself.

Lisa on the other hand was hacking off tentacles left and right, trying to get close to the cackling Espada but for every one she hacked a way, another replaced it, making her efforts in vain. By the time both of them leapt away, blood covered the floor and the white tentacles writhed pathetically, splashing the red liquid everywhere and covering them both more than they already were. Panting, they looked at one another, and then back at Szayel.

"Looks like you two could use some help!"

Szayel's expression of glee died immediately and he turned, eyes staring into the darkness as three shapes made their way forward.

"Zaraki! Ikkaku...Hitsugaya," Ishida whispered, surprised to see the two captains and soul reaper.

"Hm," Szayel hummed noncommittally. "Soul reapers are boring. What would I want with them when I've got two lovely specimens?"

"Aren't you lucky this is where we got dropped off?" Ikkaku called to Ishida, ignoring the Espada as he drew his sword.

He sprung forward, slicing up the few tentacles that shot for him and then cut the two wing parts that held their dolls, grabbing both in one hand and casting them away out of reach of the Espada's appendages. Szayel paid no attention to the two spots that were now bleeding heavily, instead attacking Ikkaku with a fervor Ishida had yet to see in the pink haired man. Perhaps the Espada now realize how small his chances were at winning.

"You said you can heal with your minions," Hitsugaya said, just loud enough for the dodging Espada to hear as Ikkaku continued to cut him up faster than he could regenerate. "Not even you can heal yourself if your head is lopped off."

"What?" Szayel growled, whirling to face the threat Hitsugaya now showed.

Lisa took the hint and leapt forward and with a cry, sliced the Espada's head cleanly from his shoulders, sending it rolling off to the side. Just to be on the safe side, Ishida brought up his bow and shot it until nothing remained. The body crumpled and fell over, an ugly mass of bleeding white flesh.

"Why are you here?" Ishida asked, ignoring the puddles of blood as he walked towards them.

"Twinkle toes here wants to save Orihime," Zaraki said, his grin still planted on his lips. "So we came along. We love breaking rules, as I'm sure you know."

"Hm. Squad Eleven is nothing but blood thirsty beasts," Ishida sniffed, glancing away and very unwilling to admit that they would be dead right now if it weren't for the three new arrivals.

"Yeah but we're blood thirsty beasts that are on your side," Ikkaku said as he slapped the Quincy on the back. "Where's Strawberry and the others?"

"Fighting Yami and Nnoitra," Lisa replied, fixing each of the soul reapers with a hard stare. "Aizen no doubt knows you are already here. We have seven more high ranking Espada to fight through. Are you ready for that?"

"Well we didn't come this far to just turn around now did we?" Ikkaku asked, heading into the darkness. "There's a hallway on the other side of this room. I'm sure if we follow it we'll run into Ichigo eventually."

Wordlessly, Hitsugaya and Ishida followed, with Zaraki and Lisa trailing behind.

"You aren't a soul reaper, and you aren't a Quincy either," Zaraki commented quietly, becoming serious.

"It is none of your business what I am," Lisa replied plainly. "Just be happy I am on your side."

"Hm. I like you."

"I don't like you."

Zaraki threw his head back and laughed.

(INSERTBREAKHERE)

_"_Szayel, Yami, Tesla, and Szayel have been eliminated."

"I realize this."

"Two Captains and another soul reaper have arrived. What do you want us to do?"

"Wipe them out."

"Can't I have some fun?"

"...Fine. You go too."

"Yes, Aizen-sama."

(INSERTBREAKHERE)

Ichigo gnawed on his lip as they made their way down the white washed hallway, mind lost in thought. The real Ichigo was okay with what Shinji had done but the fake didn't like it one bit. The two selves were at war in his mind and on top of it all off, he had his hollow laughing at his struggle. They weren't wandering aimlessly. Orihime's spiritual pressure was faint but traceable and so they climbed stair case after stair case, all too aware that they were being watched.  
"Uh!" Ichigo faltered as a wall of spiritual pressure hit him full on, coming out of nowhere. Panting, he brought his gaze up, locking it on a familiar albino face he would have been content to never see again. "Gin."  
"Hey Strawberry. How ya doing?" Gin gave a mocking wave as he leaned over, ignoring the three glares he received in response.  
"Now there's a face I hoped to never see again," Shinji muttered.  
"Nah that's not nice is it?" Gin mused. "But Ichigo missed me. Didn't cha? Miss ya hero scientist?"  
"SHut up. That Ichigo is dead!" Ichigo growled. "So don't even try any of your stupid mind games!"  
"Nah I'd be inclined to believe ya if you weren't so defensive Strawberry," Gin said, his tone like that of a concerned parent only mockingly.  
"Mind games aren't fair. If you want to fight, let's fight," Chad spoke up. "I trust Ichigo. He would not look up to a manipulating fox like you."  
The smile died and the eyes opened just a sliver, a strip of crimson staring straight into Chad's deep, warm eyes. "You'll regret those words."  
The ex-Captain advanced on them, the smile completely gone. Ichigo and Shinji drew their blades, mentally cursing the cramped quarters of the hallway. Given what Shinji knew about Gin's fighting style, they would be slaughtered all at once unless they got in a more open area.  
"Chad, Ichigo, fall back now."  
"What?" Ichigo asked even as the big man made a hasty retreat.  
"Now," Shinji ordered, growing uneasy as Gin grinned, walking towards them a little faster.  
Ichigo turned and flash stepped away, speeding towards the room the had just passed minutes earlier. Before Gin could move to give chase, Shinji moved in front of him, snapping a hand forward even as it glowed with red lighht.  
"Cero!"  
Black and red light shot forward and Gin dodged, leaping for Shinji in the same move. Shinji allowed himself to be pushed back, slowly and steadily to regroup with the others, though he was finding it difficult to block and dodge all of the ex-Captain's moves. He had gotten stronger since the last time he had seen him and he didn't want to know what other sort of tricks the man had gathered up his sleeve. Instead of battling down the stairs, Shinji flipped back in one smooth movement, landing just in front of Ichigo and Chad, summoning his hollow mask as well.  
"Three on one. That should make it about even, eh?" Gin mused.  
"It is you who will regret those words now," Chad said.  
Ichigo wasn't so sure though. With the two selves at war within him, he couldn't guarantee he would hold out well though the battle with the man who had become so important in his fake life. _Well there's no time like the present to find out. _


	14. Chapter 14

**Hey everybody. Look how fast I'm udpating! Look how long this chapter is! I better get some love for this haha. I don't own Bleach and reviews are loved. **

Ikkaku was the first to notice Tousen's spiritual pressure and he stopped, glancing back at the others to see if they could feel it. Their expressions said they had and they all moved in a circle so that no space was open for a back attack. The air seemed to distort for a moment and then Tousen was standing before Zaraki, dressed like an Espada with his well muscled arms free of sleeves.

"Oh long time no see," Zaraki said, a feral grin splitting his lips. "You guys go on ahead. I know how to fight this nut."

"No, we'll need your Captain level strength further on," Hitsugaya interrupted, glaring at Tousen even though the man couldn't see it. Knowing the ex-Captain, he could probably feel the hate.

"Then let me take care of it," Ikkaku said quietly, a grin of his own growing slowly as he caught Zaraki's eye. Things were private enough down here, with just him and Tousen so there would be no problem if he let loose his little secret, and with that there would be no way Tousen would stand a chance. Sure Zaraki didn't know just how strong Ikkaku was but...he knew that Ikkaku could handle himself just the same.

"It is not virtuous to be arrogant," Tousen said quietly.

"Yeah, and it isn't virtuous to be a traitor either," Hitsugaya shot back, turning his back and walking away. If Zaraki thought Ikkaku could handle it, he was willing to go along with that as well.

"And what would that make you, Toshiro? Hm? Aren't you a traitor too, for coming here against orders?" Tousen's words hit Hitsugaya like a cold shot to the stomach and he tried not to let the reaction show, instead stopping and turning around slowly.

"I am saving lives. You are only destroying them."

"My cause is a good one, you just do not see it," Tousen replied.

"Enough of this. Ikkaku says he can handle it, now let's go," Zaraki ordered, for once being the serious one.

Tousen moved to flash step in front of them and block their path but Ikkaku moved quicker, drawing his sword and lunging at the man to keep him occupied while the others beat a hasty exit. The man blocked Ikkaku's attacks with ease but that wasn't his goal so he didn't really care; there would be plenty of time to deal damage later on.

"You don't truly think you can beat me, do you?" Tousen asked, tone incredulous.

Ikkaku snorted, unhooking his katana sheath and flipping it in his hand a few times before looking back at the man. "Zaraki has led the others away. That means I don't have to worry about showing my full strength. We're an even match."

"You can't mean to say you've mastered Bankai?" Tousen said, a hint of mocking in his voice.

"Now who's getting arrogant?"

Ikkaku didn't answer Tousen's question though, instead plunging straight into the battle, attacking first with his katana and then his sheath, beating Tousen back a bit, then giving ground, and effectively chasing him up and down the hallway. He wasn't wasting time pretending to be weaker than he was and he wanted to get nice and warmed up before unleashing his full strength. By sheer luck, for he was sure Tousen was usually not clumsy, he was able to catch the man's shoulder with his blade, slicing open the skin before hitting the man's back with his sheath, sending him stumbling forward a few feet.

"Extend, Hozukimaru!"

The bald man put his sheath and katana next to each other and they merged into the long pole that was the first released form, a sharp edge at the tip. He lunged forward again, only to have Tousen knock his blade aside, followed up by a swift jab which only managed to scrape his side thanks to his quick reflexes. _Need to stop wasting time, _Ikkaku thought as he split Hozukimaru into it's three segments, getting ready to go the final step.

As he stepped back to release his Bankai, Tousen leapt back as well and before Ikkaku could speak, Tousen had beaten him to it.

"Cry Suzumushi."

Ikkaku fell to his knees as a piercing cry hit his ears, making his head swim and his vision blur. _That bastard. I'm losing consciousness. No I can't dammit! Gotta keep fighting, I'm not gonna let some idiot destroy me. _Tousen stepped closer, slowly, 'watching' Ikkaku's spiritual pressure waver in and out, showing how the man was fighting losing his conscious.

"You are strong to fight off Suzumushi's cry so well. You won't be able to survive long though. "Bankai."

That one word snapped Ikkaku right back to the real world and he leapt to his feet, stumbling a little as he did so. By the time his vision focused enough for him to look at Tousen, ten silver rings had surrounded the man and the ring that had been on the hilt of his katana had vanished. Tousen sliced downwards with his sword and the rings spread out around them and a deep, penetrating darkness shot up to balloon above them, cutting off all of Ikkaku's senses in one fell swoop. Instead of panicking though, Ikkaku kept his eyes open and thought. _Zaraki told me about this when he fought Tousen. All I've got to do is grab the hilt of his sword and then run him through to disband the darkness. Then I can finish this..._

Ikkaku clenched his teeth as a cut opened up his back and for the barest of seconds, he could feel blood running down his back before his sense vanished once more. He spread his arms out, ready to intercept any attack-

A flash of pain in his side signaled the attack and he lunged forward, hand seizing Tousen's bicep before sliding down to the hilt of the sword before the ex-Captain could stop him. His sense returned to him in a rush and he quickly used the opportunity, twisting the segmented pieces of Hozukimaru and stabbing into Tousen's side. Keeping his grip on the sword, Ikkaku yanked Tousen closer, flipping the bladed age of his zanpakuto once more and stabbing him once more, making sure to hit his vitals, slashing down to do even more damage.

As the darkness that had encased them began to fade away, Ikkaku dropped the ex-Captain on the ground, watching emotionlessly as the blood leaked into a pool around him.

"So...you do not have a Bankai," Tousen said quietly, coughing as he did so.

"I never said that. You were just too weak for me to have to go any stronger than this," Ikkaku said, taking a little pleasure in mocking the man who had hurt his friends so much in the past. "You know, Hisagi loved you. Did you know that? When you guys were gone, he was hoping you would come back a changed man."

"I am following through with my justice," Tousen argued, rolling onto his side and coughing harder, more blood spilling onto the ground from his mouth. "He should understand that."

"Bullshit. You never explained anything to him," Ikkaku snarled as he crouched down beside the dying man. "Do you know how many nights I had to comfort him? Do you know how many nights I had to drag him away from the bar when he was totally wasted? Do you know? Do you even care?"

"Care?" The man's tone was broken, something Ikkaku hadn't been expecting to hear. "You don't know what we had."

"Yeah I do," Ikkaku said. "He's told me everything and from what I've gathered, you don't care at all." Mercilessly, he stood up and kicked the man in the stomach, grabbing his zanpakuto at the same time and with an anger filled thrust, stabbed the man in the heart, ending his life in one harsh moment.

(INSERTBREAKHERE)

Gin brought his katana up, aiming it at Shinji, then moving it to Ichigo and Chad each in turn as if he were debating who to attack first; he probably was. Abruptly though, he dropped his arm and tilted his head to the side, a look of amusement on his face.

"Do ya feel that? Tousen's spiritual energy is gone. Huh, he didn't last too long," he mused.

"And you don't care? How surprising," Shinji ground out as he summoned his hollow mask. "You'll go down just as fast as he did!"

He lunged before Chad or Ichigo could say or do anything but Gin knocked him aside easily, sending him flying into the wall with a flick of his wrist and a smile. Ichigo stepped towards him but then whipped his sword back in front of him, ready to defend against any attack Gin decided to try.

"Little shit," Shinji growled, getting to his feet, spiritual pressure growing as his anger grew. Ichigo couldn't fathom why Shinji was getting so worked up over the man. He didn't like Gin either but it wasn't like Shinji to fly off the handle like he was now doing. "Ichigo, Chad, get out of here now. Gin and I have something to settle."

"Shinji what are you even talking about?" Ichigo demanded, trying to keep one eye on the grinning man.

"Just go," Shinji ordered. "I'm sure Gin wouldn't mind me letting you go."

Gin bowed mockingly, a display that showed how truly unworried he was about the whole situation. "Off ya go Strawberry. I'll kill ya later, after I finish 'im up."

"Shinji..."

"Ichigo, let's go," Chad said softly. "We need to save Orihime."

Ichigo swallowed thickly and then nodded, flash stepping past Gin as Chad ran after him, taking a wide path around the ex-Captain to be on the safe side. With one last glance, Ichigo disappeared into the hallway, leaving Shinji and Gin alone to battle out their past demons, whatever they were.

"You were there that night," Shinji said quietly. "That night Aizen betrayed us all."

"Yes, I was. What 'bout it?" Gin asked, still smiling.

"I hate you for it. I hate you like I hate Aizen and Tosen. I'm glad Tosen is dead, but I'll be happier once you join him and I myself might just die when Aizen falls," Shinji whispered, stepping forward slowly. "I used to hate Aizen the most but after the way you manipulated Ichigo in that dimension...I want you dead."

"Hatred is a bad motivator, Shinji. Thought cha knew that," Gin said.

"Shut up. Collapse Sakanade."

Shinji felt a slight disorientation as the world inverted itself so that he was standing on the ceiling. He was now at a very distinct advantage, seeing as how he was unaffected by his zanpakuto's inversion of the world as they knew it, but Gin, even once he figured out what had happened, would be unable to fight his instincts once Shinji began to attack him. The battle would be over soon.

Gin tried to flash step closer only to end up farther away, almost halfway up the stairs. Realization dawned on the ex-Captain then and his smile faded away as he realized just what his disadvantage now was. Shinji approached the ex-Captain slowly and then flash stepped to a few feet away from him, holding his katana out before attacking. Gin instinctively began to fight back only to find himself on the ground bleeding from dozens of slashes that covered his chest and arms from his own and Shinji's weapons.

"You understand now, don't cha Gin?" Shinji said mockingly. "It's time for pay back."

"Shoot to kill, Shinso." Gin flipped his katana towards himself, finally getting a slight handle on how every direction was reversed.

The katana shot forward so fast Shinji couldn't even see it and he cried out as the blade ran straight through his gut, narrowly missing his vital organs, but way too close for comfort. The blade withdrew as Shinji stumbled back, hollow mask crumbling away as pain pulsed through him in waves. I have to end this now.

Gin got up and propelled his body backwards, now able to think carefully about his movements seeing as how Shinji couldn't easily move himself. He ended up right before Shinji, a hairsbreadth a way from his face, that insufferable smile once again plastered to his face.

"This is what cha get for being so cocky Shinji," Gin said. "How does it feel with the roles reversed."

Shinji moved his wrist forward discreetly as he raised his sword slowly, feigning total weakness in every movement as he got ready to take the man by complete surprise. "Cero."

The hand free of the sword lit up and a beam of red light shot forward, catching Gin in the stomach and shoving him backwards straight into a wall, continuing to slam into him before finally dying away and letting the ex-Captain collapse to the ground. Panting, Shinji straightened, blocking out the pain he felt as his blood continued to sluggishly pour onto the ground, knowing that he would have to act fast before Gin could have a chance to think again. His control on his bankai was slowly fading and he didn't know how much longer he could hold up the inverted world that gave him such an advantage.

He flash stepped forward, eating up the ground between them before ramming his sword forward only to have Gin deflect and roll to the side.

"Bankai!"

Shinji cried out as he was cut straight down his chest, a shallow cut, but still deep enough to cause some serious damage. He fell to the ground, his world crumbling to pieces until they were once again standing in the real world with Gin above him, chuckling at what he had reduced Shinji too.

"My blade can now travel five hundred times the speed of light. How can ya ever hope to beat that? Ya can't even lift yer sword. How pathetic." Gin knocked him over with a rough kick, sending him flat on his back. "I think I'll just let ya bleed out. That's what ya deserve after all. A slow an' painful death."

"You bastard," Shinji choked out, raising a hand up in a futile attempt to attack the man with one more Cero.

A cry was torn from his lips as the tender muscle of his forearm was sliced open and the arm flopped down to his side, bleeding slowly from a perfectly straight cut from his wrist to elbow. If the cut had gone through bone, his forearm would've been in two equal pieces. Another cut was made on his other arm, then his legs until it was all he could do to keep from passing out on the floor. Above him, Gin chuckled, before crouching down beside him and running a hand through his blond locks.

Shinji jerked away, hating the feel of the disgusting thing touching him. Gin's expression became stern and he grabbed Shinji's chin roughly, forcing him to look the ex-Captain in the eyes. The silver haired man had opened his eyes fully, the crimson gaze piercing Shinji just like the blades that had cut him open.

"Ichigo's gonna be so sad without cha. Can hardly imagine it. But don't worry, he'll join ya soon, dead," Gin told him softly. "Good to know yer finally out of my hair." He let go abruptly and stood, dusting himself off. "Bye, bye."

Ichigo...

(INSERTBREAKHERE)

"Something just doesn't sit right with me about this."

Hiyori looked over at Hachi's looming form, opening her eyes. "I'm trying to nap. But what doesn't?"

"Shinji and Lisa leaving with Ichigo. I don't think they alone are strong enough to take on Aizen and the others," Hachi said. "They were so strong back then and now...they have had time to grow even stronger. I think I should follow after them."

Hiyori sat up so she wasn't leaning up against her rock, hands on the dirt ground as she sunk her nails into it. "Hachi, Shinji's stronger too. They'll be fine."

Hachi looked at her, big eyes showing just how deep his concern ran. "I am going after them. I think they will need my help."

"Ugh fine big guy. I'm going with you," Hiyori grumbled, her tone sounding as if it were all a huge bother that she didn't want to deal with, but Hachi knew better. Hiyori was concerned too, as much as she hated to admit it.

(INSERTBREAKHERE)

Urahara sighed as he watched Hachi and Hiyori disappear through his portal in the basement of his candy shop. More and more people were getting involved in saving Orihime and while it did raise their chances of success with the more people that went, he was beginning to worry about it. With two captains missing from the Soul Society, he would doubtlessly be seeing more Soul Reapers around, Soul Reapers who would be able to trace the spiritual energy to this very basement.

"Oh this is not going to go well," Urahara sighed. "This is going to end up in one big headache that I really don't want to deal with."

But what could he do? Stop people from protecting their friends? The Soul Society hadn't done anything to move agains Aizen when Ichigo and the others had been gone and they probably weren't going to in the near future, so perhaps it truly was better that so many people were working to save Orihime and in the process defeat their enemy. But maybe the ones that were there...maybe they weren't enough. Should he follow after them?

_No. They'll be fine..._

(INSERTBREAKHERE)

Ichigo froze as Shinji's spiritual pressure flared brightly and then died away, heart hammering in his chest as he searched for it and found the barest flicker of it.

"Shinji!"

He whirled around to head back the way they had come only to have Chad seize his arms, holding him back with a strong, firm grip. "Ichigo! We have to keep going! Gin might catch up and if Shinji died fighting him...we have to go save Orihime Ichigo. She's our first priority. Once we get her maybe we can save him."

"Chad he's not dead! He's just injured!" Ichigo struggled against the big man's grip with no result.

"And what could you do for him?" Chad said quietly.

Ichigo stilled, realizing that Chad was right. Even if he did go to Shinji now there was nothing he could do without anyway to heal the man. They were better off finding Orihime and returning. Chad released him, sensing that Ichigo had calmed down and realized that there was nothing he could do at the moment. As they turned around though, Gin's immense spiritual pressure hit them like a ton of bricks and they stepped back, Ichigo glaring, Chad tense.

"Found ya," Gin said, waving gleefully at them. "Yer lover boy didn't present too much of a challenge."

"So says the blood," Chad commented, gesturing with one hand at the cuts scattered over the man's body.

"Oh these? Pathetic attempt," Gin said dismissively. "He's bleedin' out on the ground as we speak. Don't think he's got much longer to go. Pity fer you."

"You bastard!"

Chad grabbed Ichigo's arm before he could lunge at the silver haired man, knowing that acting with anger would be their downfall, especially now. Ichigo didn't struggle this time, keeping his eyes fixed on Gin as he tried to read what his next actions would be. Gin smirked and attacked then, so fast that Ichigo could barely block. He grunted as Gin attacked so fast he could barely even block, so fast that it appeared that there were multiple swords instead of just one. It didn't take long for him to be backed up to a wall and Gin hummed in delight before lunging forward again.

Ichigo ducked and rolled away at the last second so instead of piercing his chest, Gin's sword only pierced a wall. Chad seized the opportunity this gave him, sending one of the powerful attacks from his fists so that the blue beam of power slammed Gin straight into the wall. Gin's grunt of pain gave Ichigo a little bit of hope; they were doing damage.

He looked back at Chad to see both arms covered in the liquid like armor, one white and streaked with red, and the other like a shield of black with intricate red designs over the front. The man had gotten stronger since the last time they saw each other...a lot stronger. Chad glanced over at him and gave him a quick smile before turning back to Gin, taking a defensive stance with his shield in front of him. Gin turned around slowly, his smile long gone and his eyes open just the barest sliver, showing that play time was now over, far, far over.

"Shoot 'em dead, Shinso."

Chad braced himself as the man's blade suddenly shot forward, so fast it was just a blur and impacted against the shield, pushing Chad back across the room. While Chad was fairly confident nothing could pierce his shield armor, he was now doubting it as it cracked under the pressure and suddenly, the blade went through, straight through into his arm, and then out the other side, still pushing him back. He hit the wall with a thud, arm effectively held to the wall by the long blade that now spanned across the whole room. The pain was harsh but Chad ignored it, grabbing the blade with his other hand and yanking it out with a grunt, getting a small satisfaction out of Gin's surprised look.

Ichigo had gone into Bankai mode when the other two had been distracted and now he attacked, sending out a Getsuga Tensho and hitting Gin full on, propelling him into yet another wall. Chad sprung forward, the tips of his white arm, Brazo Izquierdo del Diablo, crackling with blue energy as he readied one of his strongest attacks. He reached Gin before Ichigo did and he lunged forward, bringing himself a few inches away from Gin before the man could move out of the way. He clenched his left arm into a fist, bringing the energy into himself and then, with a grunt, slammed it into Gin's stomach, forcing a rough cough out of the man. No one moved for several heated seconds, and then, like the thunder after the lightning flash, Gin's body trembled and snapped back into the wall with a sickening crack as Chad's power raced through him.

Ichigo watched in wonder as the wall erupted behind the ex-Captain, showering plaster down upon them and kicking up dust. Once the dust was gone, he could see that the wall now had a skull imprinted on it, and Gin was slumped over Chad's arm, either unconscious or dead. Chad dropped him on the ground, stepping back slowly as Ichigo approached.

"Holy shit Chad," Ichigo muttered. "That...damn."

Gin's arm twitched, just the barest, and then, one word. "Ban...kai."

A silver blur flashed before their eyes and then pain, as if every limb was being cut open. Unable to support themselves, both crumpled to the ground, blood spilling from their arms, legs, and chests from cuts that had nearly pierced even their bones. _Fuck. I can't...I can't live through this! Orihime...Shinji!_

Ichigo moved his head, just enough to see that Gin's eyes were closed and that his breathing had stopped. So that had killed the traitorous bastards at least. That...that counted for something.

(INSERTBREAKHERE)

"Shinji!"

Hiyori raced across the floor, Hachi moving as fast as he could behind her, knowing then that his gut feeling was right and if he hadn't followed it...well Shinji wouldn't stand a chance. The big pink haired man knelt beside Shinji's almost completely still form, ignoring the blood that was seeping through his green pants.

"Hiyori, calm down," Hachi murmured, trying to keep his own rising panic down as he activated a rejection shield, a soft glow extending over Shinji's mangled and broken body.

"You can help him right Hachi? Right?" Hiyori demanded, eyes wide with a fear he rarely saw in her.

"Yes, I can," Hachi assured her. "But whoever did this is probably still alive. Wherever the others are, I hope that they are alive and well. I don't want to think of just how powerful the enemy was to do this."

"It is Aizen...and Gin and Tousen," Hiyori mumbled. "They're strong. Really strong. They could've done this to Shinji...I'm going to kill all of them."

"Hiyori, being motivated by revenge won't help anyone."

"Screw that! I'm not going to let them just walk away from almost killing Shinji!" she growled, leaping back up to her feet with a stubborn glare in her eyes. "I'm going on ahead Hachi. You two can come join me later when he's all healed up? Okay? I need to find those bastards and teach them a lesson!"

"Hiyori, wait!" Hachi said, but he wasn't able to stop the high spirited woman as she sprinted up the stairs and out of view. It wasn't like he could just leave Shinji as he was, and if he left Shinji and didn't heal him, then the man really would die, bleeding to death from the terrible wounds he had been dealt. If he hadn't left with Hiyori when he did, there was no doubt in his mind that instead of a barely alive man, they would have found a dead man instead.

Tense, he watched the wounds close as his energy was sapped away for the healing. The minutes felt like hours, but finally, the rejection shield faded away, signaling that it had done all that could be done to reverse the wounds and injuries. Another minute passed before Shinji stirred, and as he did, Hiyori came flying down the stairs at full speed, nearly running into Hachi.

"Ichigo and that big guy are bleeding all over the ground," she panted. "Gin's dead. I snapped his neck to be sure but...you have to go help them too! If you can..."

Hachi got to his feet, a little weak from the intense healing he had done. "I am on it."

"Hiyori? What...what are you doing here?" Shinji asked, eyes clearing a little. "Ichigo! Where is he?" He jolted upright, groaning and collapsing back down seconds later as pain raced through him like fire; Hachi could heal but not that well.

"Hachi is going to heal him," Hiyori assured him, putting a hand on his shoulder, half comforting, half restraint. "Gin is dead. I think Ichigo managed to kill him but they didn't look too good Shinji. They looked like you, worse even. But Gin is dead, I snapped his neck just to be sure, and if Hachi could heal you, he can heal them too."

"Gin...he..." Shinji closed his eyes. "I'm glad he's dead."

"Me too," Hiyori muttered, sitting down on the ground with a sigh. "Shinji...you really love Ichigo, don't you?"

"What the fuck is this about, Hiyori?" Shinji demanded, eyes narrowing at the abrupt topic change. "If you're trying to convince me that my memory is just muddled, stop. I don't wanna hear it."

"That's not it Shinji. I just want to know."

Shinji sighed and closed his eyes, draping an arm over his face as he thought of how to best answer the question that had literally come out of nowhere. "Yeah, I do Hiyori. I really love him. I really do. Those things that we did in the other dimension...the times we talked and bonded and let ourselves just be open...they were things we never allowed ourselves to do here. But if we had been here and let ourselves be open and okay with a potential relationship, it would've happened."

"Okay. I can accept it now," Hiyori said with a curt nod. "I didn't know what to think about it. But now that I know how you feel and that it would've happened here eventually...I'm okay with it."

Shinji chuckled and reached a hand up to grab Hiyori's, squeezing it lightly. For all the times they fought and yelled at each other, they were friends, and they were close friends at that. They could talk seriously when they wanted to and sometimes people seemed to forget that; hell even he seemed to forget that sometimes. "I'm glad you're here, Hiyori."

Hiyori snorted, killing the mood instantly. "Yeah, whatever. I'm gonna go check on Hachi. You just stay here. You don't wanna pull anything old man."

As she walked away, Shinji extended his foot, tripping her so she fell flat on her face.

"Mother fucker!" she griped, glaring at him with her small fang sticking out of her mouth, expression indignant.

She continued on her way, heading down the hallway and up several more flights of stairs before coming upon the room that she had found Chad and Ichigo in. Chad was already healed and sitting up, head between his knees as he took several deep breaths. Ichigo was still glowing as Hachi worked, and she glanced at the pink haired man worriedly, for he was sweating profusely from the effort of three major healings, all one right after the other.

"Is he dead?" Chad said quietly, raising his head up to look Hiyori in the eyes.

"Yeah. I snapped his neck. If that assures you any," Hiyori said, smirking a little.

"It does. Is...is Shinji alive?"

Hiyori nodded. "Yeah, he is. Alive and well. He's just resting a bit before coming to join us. He'll probably be back on his feet faster than you. Where's Lisa and that Quincy guy?"

"Szayel, one of the Espada's took them away to fight. I don't know where they are now," Chad admitted, worry showing through in his brown eyes.

"Urahara said a couple captains came through here not too long ago. Maybe they found Lisa," Hiyori said with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Shinji!"

Ichigo's shout caused both of them to turn and look at Ichigo who had sat up and seemed to be dealing with the pain of doing so quite well as he got to his feet, gritting his teeth as he did so. Hiyori got up, strode over and proceeded to kick Ichigo in the shin until he was back down on the ground.

"Calm down! He's fine! I'll go get him! Sit down, relax, and let your muscles heal without you straining them!" Hiyori ordered, turning on her heel and striding away.

Ichigo laid back, panting a little from the pain and effort of standing before he was ready, and of course Hiyori's abuse. Hachi laid down as well, obviously exhausted from so much work. The break wasn't long for Ichigo soon heard Shinji's footsteps and he sat up, eyes meeting Shinji's as relief flooded through him. Sure, Hiyori said he was fine, but feeling that spiritual pressure deplete and knowing that his lover was dying and he couldn't do anything to stop it...he had to see it first.

"Ichigo," Shinji whispered, kneeling down beside him and taking him in his arms, holding him close.

The orange haired teen's arms clung to the older man's shoulders as he brought himself up a little further, kissing him hard on the lips, nearly pushing him back. Shinji returned the kiss just as eagerly, running his hands through the orange locks before Hiyori's cough brought him back to the real world and he pulled away, releasing Ichigo from his grip.

"You're alive," Ichigo muttered.

"More or less," Shinji said with a shrug, standing back up and extending a hand to help Ichigo up.

Chad and Hachi were already standing, and once Ichigo was up, everyone turned their gazes to him expectantly. "What now?" Chad asked. "We're waiting for you."

"We need to keep moving," Ichigo said. "But first, why are you two here?"

"Hachi thought you might need us," Hiyori answered, arms folded across her chest. "And he was right. You'd be dead if it weren't for him."

Ichigo turned to the looming man, a smile on his face. "Thank you. We're really lucky to have you on our side."

"What should we do with Gin's body?" Chad said quietly, gesturing at the limp form.

Shinji looked at it, a sneer on his face. "Leave it. He doesn't deserve any form of respect from us. Let's just keep going after Orihime. Hachi, don't fight. We'll need you to heal us if we end up in a situation like we did last time."

Hachi nodded his understanding.

"Alright then," Ichigo said, rolling his shoulders and giving them all an optimistic smile. "Off we go."

(INSERTBREAKHERE)

"Tousen is gone," Lisa said quietly as they walked.

Ishida glanced over at her. "Yeah, I can feel it too. And Ikkaku is still alive. I guess he was stronger than what I thought."

"Haha, my squad, every seated member is stronger than they look," Zaraki said with a chuckle. "I train them well, and they want to be strong."

"You're also bloodthirsty," Hitsugaya broke in.

"Hey, we're helping you now and I didn't see you going to anyone else," Zaraki shot back.

Hitsugaya held his head higher and walked a little faster to get ahead of the large man, refraining from commenting again. Lisa didn't say anything more either, growing noticeably tense beside Ishida, fists clenching and unclenching rapidly. Ishida didn't know what her issue was, nor did he really care to ask or know but for some odd reason, he really couldn't help but ask.

"What's wrong?"

"I wanted to kill him."

Ishida was surprised at the words, and they all stopped walking to look at the woman, who was now trembling with either suppressed rage or tears; he would guess the former.

"So why didn't you stay instead of Ikkaku?" Zaraki asked, gesturing back the way they had come. "He's not that hard to beat. You probably could've taken him down."

"No. I don't think I could've. Why are we talking about this?" she demanded, eyes still rooted to the ground, refusing to look at any of them. "Let's keep going."

Ishida turned around and Zaraki shrugged, both starting off again, Hitsugaya and Lisa trailing behind slowly. It was odd. He was used to seeing Lisa very calm and collected, and condescending, and she really did infuriate him to know end, but seeing her like this, seeing her actually have emotions...it made him have a bit more respect for her. But only a bit.

"Gin is gone now too," Hitsugaya commented. "I just felt his spiritual pressure flare and die."

"Shinji's was almost gone but now it's back. I can barely feel Chad and Ichigo though," Ishida said, tone bland, though there was a slight undertone of worry. "Do you think we should go check up on them?"

"I'm here to rescue Orihime, not save Kurosaki's ass," Hitsugaya snapped. "They can take care of themselves."

"Especially since Hachi and Hiyori are here now," Lisa spoke up. "But why are they here? I don't know why they would want to follow after Shinji and I. They don't really like Orihime, or at least Hiyori doesn't."

"Don't question it. The more people fighting, the better off we are," Ishida told her. "The higher the chance is of us succeeding in saving her."

"How many Espada have you gotten rid of?" Hitsugaya suddenly asked, changing the subject abruptly. "I want to know how many more we should expect to stand in our way."

"Providing that Chad and Ichigo got rid of the other two, we've taken down three," Ishida answered. "Plus with Tousen and Gin gone, it will be much easier for us to save Orihime. I would say our biggest threat is Aizen himself at this point."

"Oh would you?"

All four whipped around, completely taken by surprise by the suddenly appearing spiritual pressure that had come upon them suddenly. Behind them stood another Espada, arms folded across a rather large chest, held barely in check by her white top, which extended up to cover her mouth. Her skin was a deep tan, her hair a golden blond, and her green eyes boring into them, full of smug arrogance.

"Then you haven't met me," she continued, arms moving to her sides. "You won't get to Aizen because you won't survive your fight against me."

"Oh I like this one," Zaraki said with a chuckle, shoving Toshiro and Lisa aside to stand right before the woman. "You three run along now. I wanna play. I'll send Ikkaku on after you."

"Zaraki, don't be stupid," Ishida hissed. "Look at her number!"

Zaraki's eyes roamed over the woman's body non-chalantly, finally resting on her right breast where tattooed into the skin was the number three. "Yeah, so? She's the third strongest Espada. She won't stand a chance."

"Leave him," Hitsugaya grumbled. "He can handle himself and we should keep moving."

Ishida sighed, shook his head, and began to walk away, Lisa on his heels. A heartbeat later, Hitsugaya followed.

"Well now, shall we begin?" Zaraki asked, grinning as he drew his sword.

"It'd be my pleasure."


	15. Chapter 15

"I am displeased."

"Let me go after him! I'll take him out!"

"Ha, what makes you so sure? They beat Gin."

"It took three of them! I'll just fight Ichigo and I'll destroy him!"

"Because Shinji and Chad will just roll over and let you do that hm? That's so believable."

"Shut up. And I know how to get him to fight me."

"Ha. Sure you do."

"Come on, just let me go!"

"...fine. They will not reach Orihime."

"Understood, Aizen-sama."

(INSERTBREAKHERE)

"Shinji? Will you tell me about why you and Gin were so at odds?"

Shinji looked back at Ichigo, slowing down enough that they were walking side by side once again. "Now's really not the time Ichigo. We need to focus on saving Orihime."

"I know. I meant, later," Ichigo said.

"Yeah. We can do that," Shinji told him. "Now ready yourself. Grimmjow is coming."

Ichigo could feel the spiritual pressure now too, all too familiar after how many time Grimmjow had decided he wanted to kill him. The blue haired man appeared right before them, hands in his pockets with the same malicious grin on his face.

"You know what I want Ichigo. You and me, just us. Totally fair."

"You expect us to sit here and let you kill him?" Hiyori snapped, stepping in front of Ichigo and crossing her hands over her chest.

"Yeah, I do, brat. It wouldn't be fair otherwise, right Ichigo?"

Ichigo nodded, grabbing the handle of Zangetsu and drawing it. "I can take him, Hiyori. Don't worry about us and go on ahead."

"Ichigo, don't do this. You are weak from your fight with Gin," Chad argued.

"This is my score to settle," Ichigo said firmly, meeting Grimmjow's eyes. "You understand, Shinji."

"He's not as tough as Gin," Shinji mused. "You can take him. We won't go far though."

Ichigo looked back at Shinji. "No, keep going. If you are sure I am fine, don't make this fight unfair. I can handle it, I promise."

Grimmjow moved forward, grabbing Hiyori's shoulder and shoving her behind him, approaching Ichigo until they were only half a foot away from one another. "I think we're going to need more room then this hallway. Let's go back a bit."

"I think you might just be right." Ichigo turned to go but Shinji's hand on his shoulder stopped him and he looked back, only to have lips press against his hard and quick. Then they were gone and with a squeeze of reassurance, Shinji stepped away, eyes glowering at the back of Grimmjow's head.

"As cute as this is," Grimmjow drawled, looking over his shoulder. "I want to kill you so I can come back and kill pretty boy too."

"It's going to be hard to do that when you're dead!" Hiyori shouted after them as they walked away, disappearing down the stairs and out of sight. "Can he really do it Shinji?"

"Yeah. Probably."

"We should go back," Chad said. "We can't let him just die."

"Oh we won't," Shinji said. "We're going to wait right here. I'm not an idiot and I know Grimmjow would never honor promises he made. And besides, we didn't make any promises so technically we can come to his rescue if he needs it."

"He won't need it," Hiyori grumbled, leaning up against the wall.

"Oh? And what makes you so supportive of him now?" Shinji leered, grinning up at her as he sat down.

"Ha, he and that guy beat Gin when you couldn't. I say he can handle a Grimmjow."

"Hey now, I weakened him first," Shinji protested, not about to lie down and let his pride be insulted.

"He was actually at pretty full strength when we fought him," Chad mumbled, a small smile tugging on his lips as Shinji gave him a mock glare.

"I like him!" Hiyori said, smirking.

"Just shut up."

Shinji looked away from the other three, gazing down the white hallway. Yeah, he was pretty sure Ichigo could handle himself against Grimmjow, but anger was a powerful tool when handled correctly, and for a man who spent his entire existence in anger, he knew that the Espada would be well practiced using it as just that; a tool. He stood up. Better to be prepared if worse came to worse.

(INSERTBREAKHERE)

Zaraki had to admit to himself; the Espada was rather attractive, not that he went chasing after woman or anything. She definitely rivaled Matsumoto in the chest department. The woman reached behind her and pulled her zanpakuto from its sheath, her eyes never leaving Zaraki's face as she did so, holding the abnormally wide blade before her. It was hollow, so he could see her face clearly right through it.

"I am Halibel, the 3rd Espada as you have already realized. I will destroy you here so that you will not kill anymore of my comrades," she said firmly, bringing the blade back over her head, her free hand up and pointing at Zaraki.

"Yeah, yeah, let's get to it," Zaraki grumbled, rolling his shoulders and drawing his own blade.

"You will not be so dismissive when I am through with you!" The middle of the blade glowed yellow for a moment, filling up the hollow space in the middle and suddenly she whipped it forward. "Ola Azul!"

Zaraki sliced the spiritual energy that was shot towards him with a single, liquid move, staring at her with a bored expression. "You will need to be stronger than that to defeat me."

Anger flashed briefly in her emerald eyes and she leapt forward, attacking with a fierce speed and strength that he hadn't fully anticipated given her earlier fail of an attack. Regardless, he was able to easily deflect and dodge her attacks, finding it all rather boring; Ikkaku definitely got the better end of the deal on this one. At least Tousen had been somewhat of a challenge. Running footsteps made them both pause and Halibel turned at the last moment, blocking the attack Ikkaku had suddenly dealt.

"Ikkaku! Get out of here, this isn't your fight you idiot," Zaraki snarled, yellow eye glinting. "You had your fun, it's my turn."

"Aw darn," Ikkaku growled, flash stepping past the woman. "You get the hot one. The others on up ahead?"

"Yeah. Go on."

"Have fun!" Ikkaku called, running down the hallway away from them.

"Do not mock me!" Halibel snapped. "Treating this battle so mockingly will end up with your death!"

"Then maybe you should show me something interesting," Zaraki shot back. "I can tell you have more power, why don't you use it? Holding back will also end up in your death."

"If I release my power, the walls around us will crumble," Halibel said smugly.

A grin split his face then, like a cat had found his mouse, or more accurately, a lion had found a worthy opponent. "Then let it go. Damage the building for all I care. I demand a challenge!"

"You asked for it! Destroy Tiburon!"

The spiritual pressure released, yellow energy arching high above her and carving open the ceilings, demolishing the walls and letting them crumbled down around them. As the dust cleared, he was revealed to her final and released form, the energy that radiated from her heating up the air. The shirt had morphed into the material of the hollow masks, extending to cover the bare minimum of her breasts as well as her shoulders. Her stomach was bare until the skirt made of hollow bones which barely covered her thigh, not that it mattered for long boots covered up what was left. The wide blade she had been wielding before had lengthened considerably, the guard extending to cover her hand, as well as taking on the shape of a shark tooth.

"Hm, maybe now you'll pose a slight challenge."

"You don't take anything seriously, do you?" she mused.

Zaraki's gaze was drawn to the gill like markings on her blade which were now swollen with water and he realized then just what her power was: manipulation of water. The water shot forward like ribbons and he blocked all of them, and once they came too fast for that he let loose a flare of spiritual power, dissolving them in one blast. Angrily, Halibel attacked once more, this time shooting rapid bursts of water at him. he managed to dodge a few before being thrown back against one of the crumbled walls, further demolishing it upon impact. Grunting, he picked himself up off the ground only to have to block the giant swing of her huge blade.

The spiritual pressure she backed up with it made the ground beneath him give a little, sinking in as he pushed up against her and finally, he flung her back, grinning like a madman. Yes, he had definitely gotten the better end of the stick. She was a challenge, her strength raw and full, but even then, not enough for him. It would be a challenge as long as he kept the eye-patch on, and he didn't plan on taking it off anytime soon.

"That's more like it!" he cried and then shot forward, attacking her quickly and fiercely so she had no chance to retaliate with her water manipulation powers.

Eventually he backed off, wondering what else she would be able to do. The entire blade became encased in water and with a cry, she swung it towards him, releasing the water in a torrent that blew him back, crashing into several walls and tossing him through quite a few empty rooms. When he finally pulled himself to his feet, he saw about twenty walls between himself and her. _Pretty good. _

She flash stepped closer and once again they fought, though not for long because as their swords clanged together, Zaraki reached up and with a triumphant cry, ripped his eye-patch free and letting his spiritual pressure unfurl completely. With a grunt, she collapsed onto her knees, dropping her sword as the spiritual pressure washed over and overwhelmed her.

"You're strong, but you don't stand a chance. Go ahead and cut me," he said. "Or try to. See that eye-patch? It eats my spiritual pressure to keep it under control. This is what happens when I take it off."

Emerald eyes looked up at him, glaring. "I will not fall to you."

Zaraki flipped his sword a few times and then brought it up. "Ha. So you won't even try and damage me then? I'm giving you a free shot."

She staggered to her feet, panting all the while and swung towards him, ribbons of water and spiritual energy lashing towards him. He let all of it hit him, wincing as some of it managed to get through in her last ditch effort, but all in all, he suffered no real damage. He grabbed his eye-patch and slipped it back on as Halibel collapsed on the ground, panting after using up all of her energy. He raised an eyebrow and looked down at his chest, staring at the deep cut that ran from his shoulder to the middle of his chest, watching the blood seep out of it.

"You did quite well. You actually made me bleed," he mused. "Is that it?"

"Impossible," she whispered, eyes unfocused as she stared at the ground. "You...you will kill me. I cannot win."

"Yeah."

"Just spare my Fraccion. Please. They do not deserve to die because I was too weak to protect them." Her eyes came into focus as she looked up at him, almost begging for him to obey her wish.

"I can't guarantee that. But they won't die by my hand," he said. He could understand a dying wish and it wouldn't be too hard to keep anyways, seeing as how he just said they wouldn't die by his hand.

"Their names...their names are Mila-Rose, Apache, and Sun-Sun. Let them live."

"You're starting to sound like a broken record. I'll make your death fast."

And he did. Before she could respond, he had broken her neck and kicked her over, stepping over her body and heading through the destroyed walls and back to his companions.

(INSERTBREAKHERE)

"A fair fight then," Grimmjow said, cracking his knuckles as he and Ichigo stood facing one another on opposite sides of the room. "You're dead."

Ichigo swung Zangetsu in front of him. "Let's just fight."

They leapt at one another, Ichigo wielding his sword, Grimmjow fighting only with his fists, just like last time. Last time, just his fists had been enough, he didn't need a sword to block any of Ichigo's hits because his spiritual pressure had been high enough that Ichigo couldn't do any damage without going into Bankai and activating his mask. This time however, when Ichigo slashed down his blade sunk in when Grimmjow went to block with his forearm.

With a hiss, Grimmjow sprang back, shaking his arm as if that would stop the bleeding as he drew his zanpakuto. Ichigo went to move forward but stopped when the Espada sliced open his hand and extended it, tensing as he readied a dodge. The man didn't say a word as his hand began to glow and then, abruptly and with no further warning, a blue cero whipped out of his hand, larger and more out of control than any other cero blast he had ever seen. Ichigo quickly flash stepped away, nearly overwhelmed by the pressure. As it died away, the two opponents glared at one another, neither willing to cave in. The wall behind Ichigo was destroyed completely, exposing the sandy white landscape surrounding Heuco Mundo, which made the fight all the more easier seeing as how now they had more space.

"Bankai," Ichigo murmured, letting the energy flare and curl around him, transforming his outfit and weapon and increasing his spiritual pressure.

"Grind, Pantera." Grimmjow seemed to have gotten it in his head that there was no way he could possibly win against Ichigo unless he was at his strongest. After all, Ichigo at regular strength had managed to cut him, and now that he was in Bankai, he would need to truly fight.

Ichigo watched as the man's hair lengthened along with his fingers and toes, giving him a feline appearance, even more so as the bone along the top of his head grew deep green cat ears. The sword had disappeared but it didn't seem to be needed for long blades now stretched out from the Espada's forearms.

Neither of them spoke, instead lunging in and attacking. It was all muscle memory as they fought, limbs moving too fast, minds blank, only reacting, just reacting. There was no room for thought; if they paused for even a moment, they would lose. As they sprang away, Ichigo unleashed a Getsuga Tensho, catching the Espada by surprise and hitting him point blank. The Espada slid back a few feet, blood splattering across the ground even though he refused to falter, standing up straight and whipping his arm forward. Ichigo had to roll to the side to dodge the darts of blue energy that leapt from his elbow blade, turning for a brief moment to see the extensive damage the darts had done, blowing open holes in the ground that led into pitch black darkness.

The strength of the darts was immense and Ichigo felt another rush of adrenaline course through him at the thought of them hitting him. Better to be prepared. He called forth his hollow mask once more and attacked again, letting his mind go blank. Time passed again in a blur and by the time the two parted once more, the other wall and the ceiling above was blown out, leaving them out in the open with nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.

"This is it," Grimmjow growled. "You won't survive much longer, Ichigo Kurosaki!"

The darts shot forward again, faster than what Ichigo could dodge and all five hit him, three in his arm, two in his shoulder. The pain was immense and he faltered for just a moment, holding the mask together just barely before standing, not bothering to look at the damage. From what he could feel, it was immense but he could still move.

"Desgarron." The word was said slowly and deliberately and Ichigo braced himself, thankful that he had done so as blue spiritual pressure radiated out from the Espada in thick waves, forming long blue claw like shapes from his cat like hands.

Ichigo held his sword up to block as Grimmjow lashed forward. The long blue claws snapped forward, lancing towards him and slicing down, soon joined by the other one in an attempt to crush Ichigo. Pain lanced through him as his mask shattered and his zanpakuto cracked, threatening to break but holding just barely as Ichigo braced his legs, sinking into the sand as Grimmjow's power began to overwhelm him. No, no, not yet dammit! I'm not giving in!

"Getsuga Tensho!"

With a cry, Ichigo pushed the last of his energy out through his breaking blade, sending it smashing into Grimmjow's. He pushed harder as Grimmjow retaliated, forcing the rest of his will into the attack, not wanting to cave, not wanting to die. Grunting, he pushed off, giving the move the last push it needed and dispersing Grimmjow's attack, leaving the way open for his Getsuga Tensho to flash towards Grimmjow, hitting him soundly. Since he was drained, he could mount no effort against shielding the attack and took it full on, being blown backwards and collapsing in the sand, torn open seemingly everywhere, blood leaking out in thick spurts.

Panting, Ichigo fell to his knees, vision swimming and swirling, trying to see if he had won.

"Ichigo!" Shinji shouted.

He fell then, darkness taking over even as Shinji fell down at his side. Hiyori raced over to Grimmjow, took one look and walked back, giving Shinji a thumbs up as a signal; he was dead.

"He's still alive," Shinji said quietly as Chad and Hachi made their way over. "Barely."

Hachi knelt beside him, getting ready to begin the healing process.

"No. He'll wake up. It isn't a matter of injury, just lost of energy and I don't want you wasting energy on something that isn't life threatening." He was right. The damage Ichigo had taken was gone, the only sign that there had been damage at all being the holes in his uniform. Shinji lifted him up, gazing at his companions quickly. "I guess we keep going."

Hiyori looked back at Heuco Mundo, expression unreadable. "Yeah."

(INSERTBREAKHERE)

"Well what do you know? He died."

"I wasn't expecting him to live."

"...Then why'd you let him go?"

"He was useless. Too many emotions and this is what happens. What does that leave us with Stark?"

"Not much. Not much at all. Aizen-sama...maybe we should relocate."

"Ha. Don't be ridiculous. We are more than enough to take them out. All of you mobilize. We'll crush them in one fell swoop, understood. I don't care if you die, just make sure you take them out before you do."

"...this is why you are a pathetic leader."

"Ha-ha. Prove that you're a better one and I'll resign."

"It's a deal."

"Hm. It is."


	16. Chapter 16

General spoilers. Violence. Um. Two more chapters left. Reviews are loved and I don't own Bleach.

"Well what do you know? He died."

"I wasn't expecting him to live."

"...Then why'd you let him go?"

"He was useless. Too many emotions and this is what happens. What does that leave us with Stark?"

"Not much. Not much at all. Aizen-sama...maybe we should relocate."

"Ha. Don't be ridiculous. We are more than enough to take them out. All of you mobalize. We'll crush them in one fell swoop, understood. I don't care if you die, just make sure you take them out before you do."

"...this is why you are a pathetic leader."

"Haha. Prove that you're a better one and I'll resign."

"It's a deal."

"Hm. It is."

(INSERTBREAKHERE)

"You're crazy to take on his bet."

Baraggan, second ranked Espada, didn't bother to turn back and look at Stark as he walked along the halls of the huge palace. "I will show him how pathetic he is. I will reclaim my seat as God King."

"They're stronger than they look if they took out Gin and Tousen though," Stark continued.

Baraggan whirled around, his large double headed axe emerging from the folds of his robes and whipping towards Stark, stopping an inch from the slim neck. "And I am stronger than them. Do not test me Stark."

Stark ran a hand through his tangled brown hair, not looking at all bothered by the situation. "Alright old man. Go off to your death. I'll leave you to it. Obviously, you don't need any help so I'll tell the others we aren't needed."

"Don't be stupid. Aizen told us all to go," Baraggan growled.

"True," Stark mused, smirking. "But since he's such a pathetic leader his orders shouldn't be obeyed, right? Or is it that you're scared that you'll fall without our help? Nah, I'm just messing with you. We'll all be there. Leave Ichigo's crew to Ulquiorra and I. You may take Aaroniero Arruruerie and Zommari. You might want to utilize Szayel's trap floors if you want to fully utilize Aaroniero's powers though."

"Do not treat me like a fool," Baraggan hissed, pushing forward a little so that Stark was forced to step back or be decapitated. "I know how to use them."

"Then get to it."

(INSERTBREAKHERE)

"Ha, leave him Ichigo and the others. Those two underestimate themselves. Let me take one of them."

Baraggan looked over at the 9th Espada as they walked along, unable to look him, or rather they in the eyes, their faces guarded by the long mask. "No, no. You deal with the others with Zommari. I will join you soon. I have things I must do. Hopefully you'll defeat them before I am even needed."

Aaroniero scoffed. "So you say." "But how can we trust you, hm?"

The second, high pitched voice belonged to the second have of Aaroniero Arruruerie, and the two often spoke together, which only served to grate on Baraggan's nerves even more.

"Just do as your told. You wouldn't want to displease Aizen, now would you?"

More scoffing but eventually the 9th Espada broke away. "We will use Szayel's traps to our advantage."

"Of course." What else would you do. Honestly. Idiots, all of them. Baraggan continued on his way, smirking inwardly even as his expression remained completely stone neutral. Aizen thought he would fight and end up dead and Stark was convinced that Baraggan was angry enough to fight and prove Aizen wrong but in reality...that's not how anything would end. Aaroniero Arruruerie and Zommari would die and would never be able to speak of how he had never shown up, this he was sure of; the two Espada weren't strong enough to overcome the amount of enemies they had.

As far as Stark and Ulquiorra reporting back to Aizen about not finding his dead body along with the 9th and 8th Espada, well that was easily remedied as well. He knew that the two Espada underestimated Ichigo and the fighters he traveled with and that would be their downfall, and if they didn't die, well they would be severly weakened and with his powers...they wouldn't survive to get back to Aizen. And then he would slip into hiding as the fighters converged on Aizen and destroyed him.

That would be the end of all of his problems. He could take his throne back, start all over, it would be perfect. He would bring his ultimate kingdom back and rise as a King and lord over the desolate wasteland that he called home. Oh yes. Everything would work out perfectly. It had to.

(INSERTBREAKHERE)

"There's no one there that I can play mind games with."

Zommari didn't look away from Szayel's computer screens as Aaroniero spoke next to him, analyzing the best way to go about fighting their enemies, all while wondering whether or not Baraggan would actually show. To be honest, he hoped the Espada didn't; he hated how disloyal the man was when it came to Aizen. Why would anyone go against the man?

"No one cares about mind games, just make sure you kill them," Zommari said, standing up. "Who do you want? I will set the traps for all of us now." As he spoke, he walked further down in the room to where Szayel's elaborate set up of traps and switches were.

"Hm. We'll take the bald man and the white haired captain."

"Yes, that will be easy enough," the deeper voice agreed.

"And Baraggan and I shall take the remaining," Zommari said. His left hand reached up and he flicked a switch down, watching as one of the tiles opened up beneath the snow haired captain and the bald man, and on accident, the other captain.

"Oh, now why'd you have to go and do that?" Aaroniero sighed.

Zommari glanced back at him, expression mostly blank. "It was an accident. Afraid you can't handle it?" He flicked the last switch up before the other two could follow after the trapped three fighters, and instead hit another switch to swallow them both up. "I will tell Baraggan to go help you if I see him."

"We can handle ourselves." The ninth Espada stalked out of the room angrily, back straight and stiff.

Zommari snorted and instead of following him, opened another switch to suck him down into the room he had sent the last two. I will always be loyal to you Aizen. You may not be able to depend on the others but I will always be your faithful servant!

(INSERTBREAKHERE)

Ishida tried to land lightly, rolling as he hit the ground so as to minimize the damage. Lisa landed nimbly beside him, drawing her sword in one sweeping motion, eyes darting around the brightly lit room, looking up as one of the white tiles opened up. With a flash, Ishida's bow appeared and the pair watched as a large man fell to the floor, landing perfectly and walking towards them. He was completely bald with dark skin, marred by the row of spiked bones along the center of his head and red lined tattoos above his eyes, and three more black triangles underneath his lower lip. Around his neck was a necklace of sorts, made of the hard white material of the spikes a top his head, most likely the remains of his hollow mask.

"I am Zommari, the 7th Espada. By Lord Aizen's orders, I will eliminate you."

Lisa smirked, putting a hand on her hip. "Only number seven? I think we can handle him."

Yellow eyes flashed as Zommari fixed his glare on her. "It would serve you well not to underestimate me."

His shape blurred for a moment and suddenly, there were three of him, surrounding Ishida and Lisa on all sides, with the wall blocking them from moving backwards to gain more distance. The two went back to back, eyes darting between all three forms, waiting for the inevitable attack. Slowly, Ishida drew Seele Schneider, only letting his bow dissipate once the blade was fully drawn. His glance moved to Lisa who looked back at him and as if they had read one another's minds, they both sprang forward, slicing open the clones in front of them. Two separate cuts appeared on all of the clones and Zommari grinned, drawing his own blade and fighting back at both of them.

_Oh I get it, _Ishida thought, struggling to block as the Espada fought back. Seele Schneider wasn't truly a blade and while he could use it, he wasn't the most skilled sword fighter like this man was. _He's using high speed flash steps to make clones. That's why both Lisa and I made cuts on all three, even if we attacked different ones. _

With a grunt of effort, Ishida flung himself over to the other side of the Espada, dancing back a few feet and reforming his bow, letting loose several arrows. The clones stopped as soon as they were hit, bleeding into just one form, block each of Lisa's attacks before springing back even further, staring each of them down.

"I see you work well together. Perhaps with two of you, you are equal to my strength." The Espada chuckled. "Though I doubt that."

"You'd be surprised," Lisa said darkly. "Ishida...you will cover me?"

She didn't wait for an answer, lunging forward and attacking with a cry, engaging in a fast paced battle with the large man, their swords clashing together in a flare of sparks every couple seconds. There wasn't much to cover, both fighters moving too fast for Ishida to risk firing an arrow into the middle. A loud shout made him draw his bow up and tense as Lisa flew through the air, smacking into the wall and sliding to the floor, glaring up defiantly at Zommari.

Despite losing their little skirmish, Lisa had left quite a few marks on the man, tearing open his shoulder and side, proof that she could indeed win given more time. And if Zommari didn't get any stronger. Unfortunately, he was an Espada, one that had not released his zanpakuto, and Ishida moved closer to Lisa as he held his sword out in front of him, releasing it so that it hovered horizontal in the air before him. He braced himself as he clapped his hands together once, twisting his head so it was perpendicular to the rest of his body before shouting,

"Suppress, Brujeria!"

The blade twisted and white smoked billowed out of it, enveloping the man completely so that neither of his opponents could see anything. Lisa edged closer to Ishida, left arm dangling uselessly at her side.

"Are you okay?" he whispered, not looking away as the smoke began to fade away.

"Dislocated. I'll be fine."

Ishida didn't argue; if she said she could fight, she could fight. He was beginning to get used to how ugly Espdada's got once their zanpakuto's were released but he supposed that this one might just take the prize. Zommari's hollow remains had extended to give him a neck brace of bone and the black tattoos beneath his lower lip had multiplied and grown thicker, and new ones lanced down from beneath his eyes. His lower body had completely disappeared and had been replaced with a large pink pumpkin shaped sphere. In between the ridges were golden eyes, unfocused. Closed slits decorated his body and his face as well, and Ishida decided to take an educated guess and assume they were also eyes.

"Now you shall see my true power. Tremble before me as I take control of your bodies!"

Lisa turned around and as she did, the eyes around the bottom focused on her and she suddenly lunged at Ishida, shock and fear in her eyes. Ishida dodged, barely, bringing up Seele Schneider quickly and dancing back away from more of her cuts. Please don't hate me for this, he thought, narrowing his eyes and finally striking back, too fast for her to dodge and with just the right amount of force. Her sword clattered to the ground as she cut open the tendon in her wrist and he rolled to the ground, moving past her and severing another tendon in her leg, sending her to the ground in a heap. With those tendon's severed, she could no longer hold her sword or walk, so even if he did have control of her limbs, she wouldn't be able to move.

Zommari's eyes narrowed and the ones on his chest opened as well, trying to focus in on him. Ishida kept moving, aiming his bow up at the ceiling and firing, grabbing Lisa and throwing her over his shoulder as big chunks of white concrete reigned down on them.

"Thank you," she muttered in his ear, squeezing her eyes shut and burying her face in his neck.

He didn't reply, letting her down out of the way once he reached the other end of the room. The ceiling now lay in shambles on the floor between them and Zommari but the Espada was making his way towards them, taking his time as if he still didn't find them a threat. Then again, they probably weren't at this point.

"How well can you fight while moving?" Lisa asked, voice thick with pain. "I think that's the only way to stop him from focusing in on you and taking control."

"Well enough. I'm going to need more cover for what I want to do though. There's something I want to try and i need to be standing still," he said quietly, kneeling down beside her, out of sight of the many eyes. Who knew how far his range extended?

"So blast some rocks apart and give yourself cover with the dust they create," she said. "And don't worry about me. He can't hurt me at this point."

Ishida nodded and stood up. He guessed he had one chance to use this. Sure, he had enough power to use it twice but it would be hard to make Zommari fall for the same trick twice. With a grunt, he flung himself into the air, letting loose a few arrows to cause further destruction to one of the walls, giving him enough dust to be nearly invisible as he alighted upon top of one of the standing walls.

"Licht Regen," he whispered, holding his bow out. He drew it back, tense, feeling the reitsu gather on his left shoulder, collecting there until it was like a physical weight. Then he released it, and the energy flowed through his bow, splitting into thousands of arrows that rained down from where he stood.

Lisa curled up as much as she could on the ground, staring in wonder as the blue light lanced down, pounding down into the ground with thudding bursts, every single one hitting Zommari, spilling his blood onto the ground. The light grew brighter, so bright she had to look away, curling up even tighter to make herself a smaller target. She knew Ishida would never actually strike her down but the immense power she could feel rushing off of him worried her. He might not be able to control it and she really didn't want to be hit by a stray arrow, not when it was at that high of a strength.

She was unaware the seemingly endless volley of arrows made a noise until it had stopped and Ishida had landed beside her, panting and eyes unfocused. Slowly, she sat up, leaning on Ishida heavily as they watched Zommari waver. Blood covered him like a scarlet second skin and his eyes were wide, mouth gaping.

"Praise be to Aizen! He will destroy you!"

The words repeated themselves over and over, a crazed chant that chilled the air around them but finally, finally, he fell, collapsing to the blood soaked ground, silent.

It didn't take much longer for the adrenaline to wear off and pain lanced through her, making her grit her teeth to stop from crying out. Damn. If only she hadn't been too careless.

"I guess this just makes it even more important to find Orihime," Ishida commented dryly, standing up and looking down at her. "I can carry you."

"If I was in any position to argue, i would. But I can't walk, even if you were to support me so...I suppose I will accept. I am still stronger than you," she said stubbornly, glaring up at him through her glasses.

Ishida smirked and lifted her up carefully so as not to cause her anymore pain than he had already. "It's okay to accept help anymore."

"Shut up Quincy. I know you would hate to in my position."

"...True."

(INSERTBREAKHERE)

"Zommari has fallen," Ulquiorra commented as he and Stark neared the area that they were going to corner Ichigo and the others in.

"Does it surprise you?" Stark drawled.

"He was weak," another voice piped up, this one belonging to Lilynette. Ulquiorra glanced at her but then turned away; she was no concern of his. "Who gets who in this?"

"Ichigo will undoubtedly want to fight me one on one," Ulquiorra said. That leaves you two with the rest. I'm sure you can handle it."

Lilynette sniffed and turned her head away, straight light green tresses shaking as she did so. "Of course we can. We're more than enough to take care of this."

Stark sighed and put a hand on her hollow helmet, throwing her a little off balance. "Don't get cocky."

"Don't be lazy and maybe I won't," she shot back, though the smile was enough to show she wasn't seriously insulting him.

"Enough. We need to attack. Now."

(INSERTBREAKHERE)

"Well isn't that just pretty?" Ikkaku mused.

Zaraki was to his left and Hitsugaya stood in front of him, blocking some of what was before him. A huge, chaotic mass of purple tentacles writhed in front of them, fragments of gigantic teeth and eyes giving the form a grotesque face and a top it was the torso of an Espada, it's shoulders merging into a long cylinder shape, though the front of it was blocked by a long white mask so they couldn't see its face.

"He's already in a released state," Hitsugaya said. "That means he's afraid to face us at a lower strength. Which means-"

"He won't be much of a challenge," Zaraki finished, gazing around the dark room, devoid of all light. "Who wants to do the honors?"

"It would still be stupid to go in alone," Hitsugaya said, walking towards it.

"I can hear you, you know," the Espada called, the voice high pitched, grating enough to make Ikkaku want to kill him just so he wouldn't have to listen to him. "It will be such a joy to absorb two captains."

"Absorb?" Hitsugaya asked suspiciously, sword clasped tightly in his hands as he edged around the wriggling tentacles.

"Why yes. What you see before you is the sum of having absorbed 33,650 hollows. I am Aaroniero Arruruerie, 9th Espada, and should not be taken lightly!" This time, the voice was deeper, and Ikkaku shot a look of surprise to Zaraki before shrugging.

"Zaraki...can your spiritual pressure destroy walls?" Hitsugaya asked, dancing out of the way as one of the tentacles lunged at him.

As if that first attack had signaled the beginning, the purple mass surged forward, lunging at them in a full attack. It was so huge that the three of them ended up being separated too much to speak anymore of developing a plan; that was fine with Zaraki for in his opinion, who needed plans? He slashed and hacked with his sword, wondering if maybe he should destroy a wall or two just to see what Hitsugaya was trying to get at before they had been interrupted.

Deciding this was a good idea, Zaraki danced back, a little surprised at the agility of the Espada and how well he was able to keep up with all three of them. But there was no point in wasting spiritual energy when he could just manipulate his enemy. He dodged once more and then stood still, grinning as several tentacles reared up and then leapt towards him. At the last possible second he dodged and the swarming appendages slammed into the wall, cracking the cement wide open, shattering it and revealing the harsh white desert outside. However, in his stupid moment of delay, a tentacle slammed into him, sending him flying across the room and if that weren't enough, his landing was too rough and he felt his wrist break.

Grunting he got to his feet, looking to see if he had actually done something good. More of the wall fell away to let sunlight stream inside, falling directly on the huge beast.

"No!" the shout was in two voices, both high and low, and Ikkaku and Hitsugaya sprang back, watching as the purple mass convulsed and writhed on the floor, burning up in the sunlight, dissolving into nothingness. Once its vast presence was gone, the threat seemed much smaller. The Espada was on his knees, his mask sliding off and clattering to the floor revealing a long tank filled with red liquid. Two heads floated inside, revealing where the two separate voices were coming from.

"Thinking that such a low ranking Espada could handle us was foolish of you," Hitsugaya said, stepping close. "I knew that the sunlight would be a weakness of yours; why else would you trap us in a place where there is no light and only shadow? You are too weak and too dumb. You are not strong."

"Haha, give me a chance and I will destroy you!" the higher voice wailed.

"Oh shut up," Ikkaku snapped and before anyone could move, he shattered the glass tank.

Two voices wailed as Aaroniero Arruruerie's heads fell to the ground, red liquid spilling out around them as the body they had controlled crumpled behind them. But Ikkaku wasn't done there. He would not let the Espada get another word in and with a grin, he sliced open both heads.

_"_And now that that's done with, let's go," Ikkaku said.

_"_I don't know what possibly made him think he could handle three of us. I guess they're getting desperate, and if they're getting desperate, I think we can assume that we're getting close to Orihime."


	17. Chapter 17

**Author's note at the end. This chapter is super long becauseeeee: IT'S THE LAST CHAPTER! **

**Warnings: Smut between two males. :D**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.**

Orihime paced around her room, gnawing on her bottom lip anxiously. That time she had felt Ichigo and Chad's spiritual pressure die away to almost nothing she had been so scared and had wanted to flee from the room to save them. But Ulquiorra was in the room with her then so she hadn't dared to show any reaction that could be used against her as a weapon.

However, Ulquiorra was gone now and she couldn't feel any spiritual pressure outside her door to indicate anyone was guarding her. Dare she leave? Dare she even hope for freedom?

_Ichigo and the others...they're working so hard to save me and I can't...I haven't been doing anything to help them! Maybe if I can get away, I can help and do something right. _

Filled with resolve, the orange haired girl fixed her eyes on the door, lips creasing into a firm line. This time, I'll make a difference. _  
_

_(INSERTBRERAKHERE)_

Lisa leaned her head back, eyes drifting close as she did so. The loss of blood was getting to her, despite the bindings Ishida had put in place around her ankle and wrist.

"Stay with me," the Quincy said, jostling her a bit and causing a sharp pain to lance up her arm and leg.

She grumbled but knew he was only doing her a favor, keeping her from passing out. Who knew I'd end up depending on Ishida of all people? The sound of footsteps pounding down the hallway made her raise her head up off of Ishida's shoulder. Ishida came to a halt, every muscle tensing as he tried to think of how to fight while protecting her.

"Put me down!" she ordered. "You can't fight while protecting a cripple!"

"I-"

"Don't argue! Hurry up!" she growled, rolling out of his arms and landing as best she could despite the pain.

"Idiot," Ishida hissed, but jumped over her pain wracked form anyways, letting his bow materialize. "Stop causing yourself more pain, you aren't helping anyone."

Using her good arm, Lisa pushed herself into a sitting position, panting from the effort. Her eyes widened as Ishida lowered his bow, surprised by who she saw around the corner. The footsteps sputtered out, stepping back before finally coming to a halt.

"Ishida? Lisa?"

"Orihime?"

Before them stood an orange haired woman, clothed in Espada styled clothing, green eyes wide with shock, with a blend of excitement and hope.

"You're here! And alive!"

"Yes, has anyone followed you?" Ishida demanded, letting the victory drain away and falling into business mode.

"No. My guard left and didn't return so that's why I ran," she said.

"As touching as this is, I'm bleeding and in pain and I know you can fix it," Lisa interrupted.

Orihime's hands leapt to cover her mouth as she gasped, racing past Ishida and kneeling down beside the female Vizard.

"Yes of course. I'm so sorry!"

Lisa leaned against the wall, gritting her teeth as Orihime lifted her limp hand up as gently as possible.

"How did this happen?" she asked, turning to Ishida for an answer, for Lisa had closed her eyes once more.

"We ran into an Espada who could control limbs, so I cut her tendons so she couldn't attack me anymore after the first time," he replied.

Lisa sighed as the wounded area started to numb, proof that Orihime had begun to repair the damaged tissues. As the pain ebbed away, at least from her wrist, her head began to clear and she became aware very quickly of how much blood she had lost. The warm numb feeling began to fade away, only to travel down to her maimed leg, sapping the pain out.

"Amazing luck that we found you," Lisa mused.

"Someone healed Ichigo, Chad, and Shinji though, and it wasn't me," Orihime said. "So you would've found help eventually."

"I noticed that too," Ishida commented. "Their spiritual pressure almost vanished but at the last minute someone healed them."

"It could be Hachi," Lisa spoke up. "How he got here I don't know, but he's the only other person I know who can heal that much damage, besides you."

"Can you identify his pressure?" Ishida asked, crouching down beside them.

Lisa rolled her eyes. "I'll get on that as soon as I can think past the blood loss. I'm out of it enough that I can't focus on separating and singling out specific spiritual pressures, my sincerest apologies, Ishida."

Ishida sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose as he stood up. "We should locate the others and join them as soon as possible. In our condition, if another Espada attacks us, we will die."

Lisa chuckled, closing her eyes once more. "So the proud Quincy admits a weakness! The world is ending."

"Don't be mean," Orihime mumbled. "He's worked really hard to protect you."

"By cutting my tendons?" she shot back, opening her eyes.

"I could've killed you instead," Ishida broke in. "But I didn't. I think I liked you better when you were about to pass out. You were nicer then, more thankful. You don't know how hard it is to not kill someone when they're attacking you that fiercely."

Lisa smirked and looked away, having no reply.

"There, I'm done," Orihime said, getting to her feet. I know Hachi's spiritual pressure so I can see if he's here and then locate them."

She closed her eyes to concentrate and Ishida stepped towards Lisa, extending his hand down.

"Need help?"

She shrugged and accepted the hand, knowing she would need it, stumbling into him as she stood. The blood loss still made her dizzy. He grabbed her shoulders to help get her steady but she didn't move away even after the swaying had stopped.

"I don't think I can walk by myself," she admitted lowly, not looking at him.

She expected a sly, cutting response but instead the Quincy readjusted his arm around her waist so he could more easily support her weight.

"They're further up," Orihime said, her voice startling the two. "And it isn't just Hachi either, Mayuri is here too."

"Does Aizen stand a chance will all of us here?" Lisa murmured, mostly to herself.

"Yeah," Ishida said, guiding them forward. "He's surprised us before so even with an overwhelming majority, I wouldn't put it past him to pull out something we aren't expecting and win."

"Not very reassuring," Lisa sighed.

"Well I figured you weren't the type that likes to be lied to," Ishida said.

She shrugged with the arm not wrapped around his shoulder. "Sometimes, it's nice."

"So," Orihime broke in. "Does the Soul Society know you all are here?"

"Ha, if they do, they don't care. Zaraki, Ikkaku, and Hitsugaya showed up, but Soul Society didn't approve it. They're breaking the rules," Ishida told her. "But if they hadn't, Szayel would've killed us."

"Why is Hitsugaya here? To save me or kill Aizen?" she wondered.

"I don't know," Ishida said honestly. "Since they came back from that other dimension...they've all been a little different. No one can guess their motives now...except for Ichigo. He always saves his friends."_  
_

_(INSERTBREAKHERE)_

Ichigo opened his eyes slowly, giving a mumbled groan as he did so. Shinji looked down at him, a small smile on his lips. "Mornin' strawberry. You were out for awhile."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Put me down."

Shinji obliged, crooking a blond eyebrow as the shinigami glanced around at the added members to their party, expression confused. "Yeah, we got some reinforcements. Might wanna thank them."

"I'm alive."

"It was difficult, but you are okay now," Hachi said with a nod.

"Eh, uh, thanks," Ichigo said, rubbing the back of his neck. "So now what?"

"We keep walking," Shinji said as he gave the man a light shove forward. "Get it together Ichigo." His tone was light and teasing, and he let his hand trail down Ichigo's arm to show that he was.

Ichigo turned back around and froze. Before him was a staircase, and at the top of the stair case crouched a brown-haired Espada, rubbing his chin with the back of his hand. The Espada slowly straightened and made his way down the stairs, remaining calm even as the group called their weapons forth, tense.

"Easy now. I'm not looking for a fight, yet," the Espada said, running a hand through his long brown hair. "Let's talk."

"I'm not talking to you," Ichigo said. "I have to cut you down to get to Aizen, right? So that's what we'll do!"

Chad and Shinji stepped up on either side of him, with Hiyori and Mashiro behind them, and Hachi falling back to stay out of the way.

"Now, now, this is hardly a fair fight. Your goal is Aizen, and I know that. But I can't let you through, and I also can't take all of you down. So what do I do?" he asked.

An overwhelming spiritual pressure hit them all at once, and Hiyori turned to see Ulquiorra emerging from the other side of the hallway. Hachi moved between the two groups, eyes wary as he did so.

"Hachi, Mashiro, fall back. We'll collect you later," Shinji said.

"Are you sure?" Hachi asked.

"Just go!"

The two nodded and flash stepped away. Ulquiorra could've easily caught them, they all knew that, but the Espada didn't move to catch them, and his expression, as usual, gave nothing away. Ichigo stepped back and turned to face Ulquiorra.

"You're mine Ulquiorra. Leave them out of it," he said.

"Fine. But I will destroy them once I am done with you," Ulquiorra said. "Come, Kurosaki."

"Ichigo! You can't face him alone," Shinji growled.

"I would not worry about him," Stark said, straightening as he held his left hand out. Slowly, he peeled back the white material of his glove, revealing an elegantly tattooed 1 on his hand.

"Tch." Shinji drew his sword. "Alright, Ichigo. Be careful."

"You too," Ichigo said, then flash stepped towards Ulquiorra.

(INSERTBREAKHERE)

Ulquiorra danced away, dodging Ichigo's brutal slashes until they had ended up in an entirely different room. Ichigo froze as the two exits out of the room suddenly became blocked, a wall materializing in the empty space and sealing any escape.

"This will be the final battle Kurosaki. Only one of us will walk out of this room, and it will be me," Ulquiorra said.

Ichigo flashed the Espada a cocky grin. "Still as confident as ever."

"Of course. You have been in another dimension for a long stretch of time. Whatever you may think, your fighting ability has drastically decreased since last we met. You will not defeat me," Ulquiorra said.

Ichigo didn't dignify the words with an actual response, instead lunging forward, switching flawlessly into his bankai form as he did so. His sword came down towards the Espada's head, but Ulquiorra merely blocked with his arm, gaze dull as he did so. Ichigo grinned and then let his spiritual pressure slip free. The blue light radiated out from him, and the Espada's eyes widened as Ichigo's sword cut through his skin. He whipped his arm back, then snapped his other forward to punch the shinigami in the chest. Ichigo was expecting the hit though, and jumped back, propelling himself off Ulquiorra's bleeding arm.

He landed nimbly, holding his sword out in front of him. The Espada's arm had already healed, but Ichigo wasn't too worried; there were more tricks up his sleeve after all. He sprang forward again, letting his hollow mask form.

"Getsuga Tensho!"

Ulquiorra dodged easily, but Ichigo was already moving behind him, and he slashed sideways in hopes of catching the man in the back. His hit made its mark, but there wasn't enough power behind it to cut open the skin, instead acting to propel the Espada forward into a wall. The wall splintered and cracked but didn't give. Ulquiorra landed neatly on his feet and held his hand out, a Cero ripping from his fingertips. Ichigo rolled to the side, barely dodging the blast. Unfortunately, Ulquiorra had copied his trick, and appeared before him, sword drawn. Ichigo twisted at the last second, so the sword only left a cut from his shoulder to elbow, instead of opening up his chest.

The battle moved at a much faster pace now that Ulquiorra had drawn his sword, and the ringing sound of metal against metal never seemed to leave the air, as they met again and again in the air. Finally, Ulquiorra caught him unaware, blocking his sword and then snapping a fist forward, already charged with a Cero. Ichigo was able to note that this Cero, instead of being red, was pure black, before it ripped through his stomach, and he hit the ground. His eyes fluttered, and then shut.

-

_"Oh come on, King, really? Here? When ya were so close?"  
_

_Ichigo's eyes opened slowly, and he flew into a sitting position to see his hollow grinning at him. "What do ya want?"_

_"Yer about two seconds from dyin' King. And I could help...if ya want."_

_"What's your price?" Ichigo demanded, not willing to take anything he said at face value. _

_"Simple. Every once and awhile...ya let me come out and play." The albino stuck his tongue out at him.  
_

_"Hell no."  
_

_"Alright, King. Then I guess we're gonna die. I hate it but, I can't stop ya from makin' yer choices." The hollow turned around and began walking away, and Ichigo realized just how serious the hollow was being.  
_

_"Pick a different price."  
_

_The hollow spun on his heel, a smirk on his face. "I see ya understand the situation now, King. Alright. How bout every once 'n awhile, ya just come down in here and keep my company. It gets lonesome."_

_"Yeah, fine, whatever," Ichigo said.  
_

_"Excellent."  
_

_The hollow sprung forward before Ichigo could get to his feet, pinning him to the ground before shoving his hand deep into Ichigo's chest. Surprisingly, it didn't hurt. "Hold on, King. It's about to get really painful."_

-

Ichigo came to with a shout, flying up to his feet. Ulquiorra turned around, his expression visibly shocked when he saw Ichigo was still alive. "It's not over yet, Ulquiorra. Get back here." Ichigo was surprised to hear that his voice was tainted with the hollow's, and with a start he realized he was wearing an entirely new mask. He reached a hand up slowly and felt the two horns now protruding from his mask. He wasn't about to question it.

Before Ulquiorra could react, he sprang forward, sword coming down. His sword cut right through the Espada's flesh, severing his arm with and ease Ichigo had not expected from himself. And all the while, his hollow's laughter rang in his ears. Ulquiorra jumped back, his arm regenerating with inhuman speed, and before long he was firing off quick Cero blasts to keep Ichigo moving. Under normal circumstances, Ichigo would be having a difficult time dodging, but as he was, he felt like the Espada was moving in slow motion.

Finally, Ulquiorra drew his sword once more, holding it out in front of him. "Enclose Murcielago."

Ichigo stumbled as the immense spiritual pressure sprung forth from the Espada, blinding him as it howled around them. After a moment, the spiritual pressure calmed enough that Ichigo could get a glimpse at Ulquiorra's released form. Huge black bat wings arched over his head, and in each hand he gripped a crackling, green lance made from his spiritual pressure. He darted forward, faster than Ichigo anticipated, and they crashed together in a storm of spiritual pressure. The Espada's wings beat heavily as they hovered in the air momentarily, before both falling to the ground.

The Espada hurled one of the lances, and Ichigo brought up his sword instinctively to block, unable to twist out of the way when Ulquiorra appeared beside him and jabbed forward with the other lance. Ichigo brought his hand down, and in a move that surprised him, wrapped his hand around the weapon before it could hit him. He didn't hesitate after that, pulling the weapon forward, and with it, the Espada. He spun once and hurled it at the wall, noting the satisfying crunch as Ulquiorrra hit the white plaster. Unfortunately, that wasn't enough, because Ulquiorra sprung from the dust, two new lances in his hands. With rapid fire moves, he jabbed the lances forward, and Ichigo could do nothing but block the lances, unable to get his own hit in.

Finally, Ichigo danced back, swinging his sword around his head and then bringing it forward. "Getsuga Tensho!"

_Good boy King_.

As the beam sprang forth from his sword, a Cero charged up between his mask's horns, slipping in beside the beam and merging with it. It hit Ulquiorra full on, and Ichigo covered his face from the resulting explosion. The red and black light converged inwards as it exploded, suddenly stopping as another spiritual pressure met it. Ichigo danced back as far away as he could. All at once, his Cero was shoved aside by green laced spiritual pressure. The light was so blinding, that Ichigo once again had to cover his eyes, and once he could see again, he froze.

He didn't know Ulquiorra had a second release form.

In fact, he didn't know any Espada could reach a second release form.

But now he knew better.

(INSERTBREAKHERE)

"Lilynette. Come here."

A small female Espada appeared around the corner at the top of the stairs, her visible purple eye bright. "So soon, Stark?"

"I want to get this over with as soon as possible." Stark drew his zanpakuto, holding it out before him. "Kick About, Los Lobos."

A bright blue light poured out from him, completely encasing the small Arrancar. Her head flew back, blond hair flying back, before suddenly she vanished. As the light died, Shinji realized that the Arrancar had been absorbed into the Espada, and that the sword he had only been able to glance at briefly, had turned into two separate pistols connected to the Espada's long white jacket by two black ribbons.

Chad planted his feet firmly, shooting the two Vizard's a quick glance. "How do we do this?"

"Find his weakness, and get going," Shinji said.

He drew his mask down, and Hiyori did the same. Together, they jumped towards the Espada, only to twist in the air at the last second as hundreds of short Cero bursts shot towards them out of the guns. Chad managed to block with his shield arm, but Shinji could see a small crack at the top, and knew then that they couldn't depend on Chad's shield to protect them from the Espada's blasts.

"Tch," Stark mumbled, bracing his legs and aiming at both Shinji and Hiyori.

Shinji didn't give him a chance, instead flash stepping behind him and slashing down towards the Espada's back. The Espada met the blow with one of his guns, aiming the other towards Hiyori and letting loose another torrent of blasts at her. Shinji curled back, flipping away from him. Mist curled around the Espada, and he cringed as they began to take on the hulking forms of dozens of wolves.

"Chad, run!" Shinji ordered.

"No use. Chase him down," Stark growled.

The mist wolves sprang forward, and for a moment, Chad held his ground as he curled his fist into one of the beast's bellies. As soon as he realized that the wolves were just reforming around him, he began to run, but the wolves gave chase, keeping up with him easily.

"Hiyori, help Chad. I'll be fine here."

Hiyori nodded and flash stepped to help the bigger man, and together they dashed from the hallway, leaving Shinji alone to face the gunslinger Espada. He didn't hesitate to jump in, keeping his sword attacks quick and fast, going for agility over strength. His only hope was to stay close and keep the Espada moving so fast he never had time to charge a Cero through his guns, but it was hard. The Espada looked bored as he blocked his hits and stabs, and finally, Stark grunted and ducked low, sending his foot into the Vizard's stomach to shove him into the far wall.

Shinji regained his balance, but the next instant, he was hit full on by the man's impressive Cero blasts. Pain ripped through him as his mask began to disintegrate, falling in small chunks to the ground where they shattered. Shinji sucked in a deep breath once the pain stopped, collapsing forward on one knee. Blood streamed down his arms, legs, and chest, his clothes ruined and covered in blood. The cuts weren't huge, thanks to Shinji's strong spiritual pressure, but the sheer amount of Cero bullets that had hit him had come close to overwhelming him.

"Another more hits and you'll be dead," Stark mused, keeping his guns trained on the Vizard. "Why do you fight?"

"Because Aizen needs to be stopped," Shinji said. "Don't you see that what he's doing is wrong?"

"Don't talk of matters you don't understand," Stark said.

"Matters I...I've known Aizen much longer than you have, Espada. Don't try and lecture me," Shinji said, wiping the blood off his mouth.

"He has done some good, even if you are blind to it," Stark said.

"You speak as if that little good eclipses the bad. No, it is you who are wrong. I'm sorry," Shinji murmured as he got to his feet. "I feel like we might've gotten along, if this were a different place."

"Tch, you're losing too much blood, don't even try and fight me now. Putting you down now would not be honorable. You should just stop," Stark said, guns dropping to his sides.

Shinji glanced down, realizing that the Espada was indeed right. The Cero bullets had cut small but deep, and it looked as though the blood flow was not stemming. Probably something to do with the fact that he had small bits of the man's spiritual pressure embedded in his skin. "Tell me, will Aizen be sad if you die?"

"Of course he will," Stark said. "He is not a selfish man."

"That's where you're wrong," Shinji said with a shake of his head. "Feel around. There are no Espada left besides you and Ulquiorra. And does Aizen join the fight in hopes of saving you? No. That's because he doesn't care. However, there are a lot of people who would be rather miserable without me, and for that reason, I will not fall."

Stark's expression didn't change, instead holding up his guns. "Goodbye."

The Cero bullets flew forth, but Shinji braced himself, unlocking his spiritual pressure and letting it smash into the onslaught of Cero. The powers clashed, and Shinji could feel his vision growing dim as he pushed with power that he did not truly have. Finally, with a shout, he pushed the Cero bullets back, sending them scattering in various directions. He fell to his knee then, sword clattering to the ground.

"You are done," Stark said, stepping towards him. "I am sorry."

Shinji looked up. "I don't think so."

"What-"

Stark's breath froze, his visible eye widening. Shinji smirked as he looked up at the stunned Espada. Hiyori's sword had slipped through the man's hollow hole in the middle of his chest, and Shinji watched as black liquid seeped down it as the other Vizard sliced down. To his credit, Stark didn't cry out, instead dropping to his knees so that he was at eye level with Shinji as the pain overwhelmed him.

"Aizen...will not come, will he?" Stark mused.

"No," Shinji said with a slow shake of his head.

"Hm. It is a shame. He made me feel a little less lonely. Lilynette, I..."

"It's okay," a soft female voice said.

Shinji glanced down, realizing the voice was coming from the guns the man grasped so tightly. "You're power...was sealed inside another being?"

Stark nodded and tossed the guns away. With a bright flash, they transformed into the small female Arrancar, her visible purple eye glazed. She reached out to Stark, grabbing his hand as he began to fade. Shinji swallowed thickly as the two began to disappear together, feeling sad for some odd reason. Stark pulled the small Arrancar closer as Hiyori removed her sword, pressing Lilynette to his chest as he held her tightly. Within moments, they were both gone.

"Where's Chad?" Shinji finally asked.

"Hachi's healing him," Hiyori muttered, sitting down beside Shinji. "He'll be by in a moment, and then you'll be all patched up. Those wolves, they got ahold of Chad and bit down, and when they did, the blew up. I've never seen anything like it. I figured I would come back and check on you, since Chad had Hachi and Mashiro to help him out."

Shinji offered his companion the barest twitch of a smile. "Thanks. I appreciate it."

"I would nudge you, but you might fall over," Hiyori said. "So...do we wait for Ichigo now?"

Shinji closed his eyes, searching for Ichigo's spiritual pressure. Faintly, he could feel it, but the pulse was steady. "Yeah. We do."

(INSERTBREAKHERE)

Ulquiorra had changed completely, his legs lengthening and becoming covered in black fur as his feet expanded and became long talons, a similar transformation happening to his arms and hands. The bat wings had expanded, now accompanied by a long, whip like tail. The most curious thing of all though, was that the Espada's hollow hole was now leaking a steady black fluid, much like blood.

"I said one of us would die here, Ichigo. You are at full power, as am I. It is time to see who the winner will be," Ulquiorra said, green lances materializing in his hands.

Ichigo gritted his teeth as the hollow inside him began to cackle. _Alright King. I don't wanna die 'n neither do you. So I'm gonna give ya 'nother little taste of my power. Use it wisely_, _King. _He almost fell forward as a rush of power entered him, and he sprang forward, closing the gap between them in less than a second. Ulquiorra met his attack easily, his tail lashing forward to knock his feet out from beneath him.

Ichigo rolled into the fall, shooting off a small Cero blast from the horns on his head. Ulquiorra knocked it aside with his lance, but Ichigo was pleased to see that the lance disintegrated with it, proving to him that with his hollow's extra boost, he was indeed stronger than the Espada. They met in the air again, swords and lances flashing, and it was all Ichigo could do to stay out of contact with the whipping tail, and he didn't always succeed. At one point, the appendage caught him in the side, ripping open his skin as it flung him across the room.

Ulquiorra followed it up by flash stepping behind him and slamming one of his wings into him, sending him smashing into the ground. Ichigo choked as his ribs shattered, blood pouring out of his mouth as Ulquiorra moved to stand above him, raising the lance above him. But somehow, his ribs were healing, instant regeneration. Ichigo wasn't going to question it, and instead moved to block the final blow at the last moment with his sword. Ulquiorra couldn't stop the barest flash of surprise out of his eyes, but the next moment, they were at it again, landing only a few scattered hits.

And as they fought, the black liquid ran thicker.

Ichigo rolled to his feet after a particularly hard blow, letting loose another Cero blast combined with a Getsuga Tensho. Ulquiorra's eyes widened as they neatly cleaved his arm from his body, and he stared as more of the black liquid poured forth, sloshing onto the ground. A moment later, the arm had grown back, and he lunged forward, reaching for Ichigo. Ichigo was unable to move fast enough, and the Espada seized his throat, flying forward until he had slammed Ichigo into the wall. The wall cracked under the strain, and it was only the Espada's beating wings that kept them so high up off the ground.

"You will die now Kurosaki."

"I don't...think so."

Ichigo twisted and slammed his feet into Ulquiorra's torso. The move surprised the Espada enough that his grip loosened, and Ichigo countered quickly, slicing down with his sword and opening Ulquiorr'a chest with a deep slash. The Espada fell to the ground, eyes dead. Ichigo landed beside him, sword to his throat.

"I've won. This is the end, Ulquiorra," Ichigo said.

"I just...wanted..." Ulquiorra stopped, looking down at the hollow hole. His chest was no longer white, stained so thick with the black liquid. Further down, his legs began to dissolve into ash. "Ichigo...were you ever...afraid?"

Ichigo stepped back, realizing that Ulquiorra was dying, with or without his help now. "Yeah. Loads of times."

"What does it feel like?"

"Well...your stomach feels like its in knots, your heart pounds, your lungs flutter, and you...you just...want to live," Ichigo murmured as he knelt down beside the dying Espada.

"Ah. Perhaps, I did have a heart then." The dissolving ash had reached his waist now, and was spreading ever higher. "Thank you, Ichigo Kurosaki."

Ichigo reached to take Ulquiorra's hand but it had already dissolved. "Ulquiorra..."

"Kill Aizen, Ichigo. If anyone deserves to live, it is you."

Moments later, the enemy Ichigo had worked so tirelessly to defeat, was gone.

(INSERTBREAKHERE)

Aizen sat down among the lower leveled hollows, wondering which ones he would bother rising to a higher power. Baranggan was nowhere to be found. He had not died, and yet he could not feel the Espada's spiritual power anywhere. He was simply gone. He would have to watch his back in the future.

"And just when things were going so well," Aizen murmured. "There is always another time.

(INSERTBREAKHERE)

Somehow, the allies managed to find one another again, stumbling upon the throne room where they had hoped to find Aizen. Instead, they found only each other, with only a small piece of paper on the throne to suggest that anyone had ever sat there. Ichigo stepped forward and picked it up, staring at the words for a tense moment before reading aloud:

"It's not over yet."

"Not fucking over. God dammit," Ichigo hissed.

His words were partially muffled by the pillow he was shoving his face into, and it was all Shinji could do to keep from joining the younger and screaming his lungs out in frustration. To their knowledge, Aizen still had himself and another Espada in hiding, and they had no idea where they were. The good news was, that meant that Aizen wasn't planning anything big, other wise they would've been able to tell.

That still didn't get rid of the fact that it made Shinji want to punch a hole through the wall. He settled for sitting down beside Ichigo instead, rubbing the man's hip in what he hoped was a soothing manner. Ichigo grumbled and rolled over, staring up at the other Vizard.

"I did something bad," he muttered finally.

"Oh?"

Ichigo glanced away. He was tired, and wanted to go to sleep before his father broke the door down in his excitement about it being morning, but he knew he had to tell Shinji his deal with his hollow before it got out of hand.

"When I was fighting Ulquiorra...I died. Well almost. I would've if my hollow hadn't stepped in, but he wouldn't help unless I did something for him," Ichigo said, sitting up so he was at eye level with the Vizard.

"What did you do?" Shinji asked quietly.

"He said every once and awhile I have to keep him company. He says he gets...lonely," Ichigo mumbled.

Shinji sighed and pressed his forehead to Ichigo's. "That's not too bad. You can always get out if you have to, but I don't think he's gonna do anything to hurt you. There's no reason for him too."

"Makes me a little nervous though. He gave me more power, but I could feel that it didn't even scrape what he could give me if he really wanted. What if he...overpowers me?" Ichigo asked.

Shinji didn't respond for a moment, thinking about his next words carefully. "We all worry about that. Our hollows are strong, but it's within their best interests to keep us alive and happy. The point of us joining together, the Vizards I mean, is a sort of security measure against our hollows when they get like...well, yours. Our hollows know that if they take over, we will not hesitate to do whatever we can to cut each other down. So...like I said, it's within your hollows best interest to keep his head down and follow your orders. Don't worry Ichigo. We won't let anything bad happen to you."

He followed his words up with a kiss, moving over to straddle the younger as he did so. Ichigo sighed and wrapped his arms around Shinji's waist, slipping beneath the man's white shirt to touch the smooth skin beneath it. The kiss was slow, their tongues sliding together, unhurried, more of a comfort than an action of lust and desire. And then their hips knocked together, drawing out a soft moan from Ichigo's lips. That did it for Shinji, and he fisted his hand in Ichigo's hair as he deepened the kiss, his other hand moving to undo the white sash that held the man's black robes together. Ichigo bit down on Shinji's lip, but it wasn't from fear or anything like that, for his tongue moved over to soothe the injury.

Shinji's thumb brushed over a nipple, earning himself a gasp, and then several more whimpers after as Shinji continued to run his thumb over the hard nub. He moved down to bite at Ichigo's neck, leaving some large marks Ichigo knew he would have no chance of hiding tomorrow and a moment later, he parted Ichigo's robes, reaching inside to lightly trail his hand over the man's arousal.

"Oh god, Shinji," he gasped, arching his back.

Shinji pulled away, propping himself up on one elbow as he pumped his hand up and down Ichigo's length, watching his face to gauge his reaction. "Is this okay?" His lips grazed Ichigo's ears, and he nibbled lightly on it.

"Yeah," Ichigo murmured breathlessly, hands trailing up beneath the Vizard's shirt, tugging at it.

Shinji released his grip on the younger's arousal to strip his shirt off, and then his touch was back, sliding Ichigo's pants all the way off so he had full range. Their lips met in a clumsy kiss as he resumed his touch, but before long, Ichigo's head hit the pillow, small gasps of Shinji's name escaping his lips.

Ichigo had not expected another's hand to feel so good, and the way Shinji was moving his hand so well was enough to make his mind go blank. Shinji moved to straddle the younger to free up his other hand, which he trailed up and down Ichigo's chest in a teasing manner, enjoying the way Ichigo writhed beneath him. It had not been his plan to let it escalate like this, but all the anger, frustration, and adrenaline needed an outlet. It didn't help that Ichigo had almost been torn away from him by death too many times to count while they were gone, and it was all he could do not to push right into him then and there.

"Ichigo," he whispered, leaning down once more to nuzzle his neck, finger swiping over the glistening tip of his length. "I want you."

Ichigo shuddered beneath him and Shinji smirked at the way his cock twitched from the words. "I...I want you too Shinji. Please. Don't make me wait anymore."

Shinji pulled back so he could look him in the eye, stilling his ministrations so that Ichigo could think a little clearer. "No regrets tomorrow, alright? We both need this."

Ichigo nodded, moving out from beneath him so they were on eye level with one another. "Yeah, we do."

He surprised Shinji then, taking the Vizard's lips in his and slipping his tongue in for a taste as his hands moved down to unbuckle the belt that held his pants up. Once that was gone, he pushed his pants down, and after a bit of awkward scrambling, they pressed their bare arousals together, moaning into one another's mouths as they did so.

"S-Shinji," Ichigo stammered. "Feels good."

Shinji ducked his head down to nip at his neck and brought his hand down to wrap around both of their hard lengths, pumping slowly. Ichigo pressed close, breathing heavily into his neck as he did so. Shinji waited until Ichigo was trembling from holding back his release before pushing the younger flat onto the bed, and then moving down to suck the tip into his mouth. A low whine escaped Ichigo's lips, which Shinji muffled by moving his other hand up to Ichigo's mouth for him to wet.

Ichigo obeyed, and Shinji couldn't stop the shiver that ran through him as Ichigo mimicked his tongue's movements. Finally, unable to resist much longer, Shinji tugged his hand away and lightly probed at the younger's entrance. He squirmed for a moment but then relaxed enough that Shinji could work his finger in and begin to pump gently, his mouth never leaving the hard arousal.

The discomfort was odd, but the fact that it was Shinji who was doing it to him made it better, and the suction around his cock was providing a very pleasant distraction. He turned his head into the pillow as the second finger joined the first, biting down to muffle his reaction. Shinji released his length with a pop, instead moving to kiss his hip gently as he stretched his entrance. He moved up as his third finger moved in, kissing Ichigo as a distraction. He waited for Ichigo to relax around his three fingers before he slowly pulled them out and moved in between Ichigo's thighs, brushing the tip of his arousal against the younger's entrance.

"You sure?" he murmured, looking down into Ichigo's brown eyes.

"Yeah." Ichigo's voice was breathless and he drew Shinji down for a slow kiss as the Vizard began to push inside, his hands tangling in the mussed blond hair and pulling as he was entered, inch by painful inch. Shinji reached up to brush away a tear with a roughened thumb pad, slipping his tongue into Ichigo's mouth and tasting him thoroughly as he waited for him to adjust.

After a few moments of this, Ichigo finally rolled his hips up, wordlessly letting him know that he was ready. Shinji kept the pace slow, moving his hips at just the right angle as to hit the perfect spot within his lover. Ichigo moaned as Shinji built up the intense pleasure nice and slow, drawing out their love making for as long as possible. His cock was trapped between their stomachs, and the friction was maddening. His hands left the blond hair, instead clutching at bare shoulders and leaving long raking marks across the skin as Shinji kissed him once more.

"Love you," Shinji whispered against his lips, giving a hard thrust, different from the rest.

The low moan he got as a result was just what he wanted, but he didn't let things get too heated, wanting to make sure that Ichigo's first time was gentle and loving. Ichigo didn't seem to mind, nuzzling Shinji's neck as he moaned.

"L-Love you too," he gasped into the blond's ear. "Always have. Even...even before."

Shinji didn't let surprise register on his face, instead pushing the younger down and giving him a deep, toe curling kiss as he gave one last thrust and spilled his seed inside Ichigo. Ichigo's back arched at the warm feeling that filled him, and the last bit of friction triggered his own release. Shinji stroked his sides soothingly as he came down from his high before pulling out in a manner that wouldn't hurt him. Ichigo curled into the Vizard, kissing his throat as their legs twined together, neither really caring for the mess.

"I love you," Ichigo repeated. "I mean it."

"I love you too," Shinji said. "Don't know how you grew on me so strong, but I don't regret it at all."

Ichigo pulled back, a contemplative look in his eye, but when Shinji moved to ask what the look was for, Ichigo silenced him with a kiss. Shinji let the subject drop and pulled Ichigo even closer. It wasn't long after that when Ichigo drifted to sleep, and only then did Shinji let himself succumb.

(INSERTBREAKHERE)

Ishida was very tired. He was usually very punctual in the morning, rising and getting around early in the day so that he could fulfill all of his plans. Given the circumstances, he couldn't really be angry with himself for sleeping through his alarm, but he did regret it a little when he heard a hard pounding on his front door.

He rolled out of bed, using his fingers to get his hair into some semblance of order before slipping his glasses on and running over to the door. He was surprised to see Lisa standing their, hands on her hips as she looked off to the side.

"Eh, Lisa. Hi. I..." He wasn't quite sure what to say, too shocked to see the female Vizard standing at his door. "How do you know where I live?"

Lisa waved her hand dismissively. "Not important. Just wanted to say thank you. I would've been dead if it weren't for you and...yeah that's it. Really." She turned away then, but Ishida grabbed her arm, not quite sure why he was doing it. Lisa jerked out of his grip out of habit, but her gaze was nowhere near as hard as it had been the first time they met when she faced him.

"You're welcome," he said. Was he blushing? He couldn't be blushing.

Lisa smirked, her eyes knowing. "Yeah. Okay."

She moved quickly then, slipping up onto her tip toes to plant a firm kiss on his lips. Before he could respond, she was gone, vanishing completely from sight, leaving Ishida to stare where she had once been, fingers grazing over his mouth.

"That was weird."

(INSERTBREAKHERE)

Hitsugaya stared up at the sky, not bothering to fix his hair as the wind tousled it this way and that. The sound of footsteps reached his ears, but he didn't bother turning to see who it was.

"So then, feeling better now that the damsel in distress is rescued?" Ikkaku asked, glancing over at the white-haired captain.

"Yes, Ikkaku-san. Thank you. I appreciate the help," Hitsugaya said.

"You didn't even talk to her after we met up. What's with that?" Ikkaku asked. "You went all that way, for nothing, basically. I just don't get it. Help me out here."

"She wouldn't know what I was talking about anyways," Hitsugaya said, looking over at the bald man from the corner of his eye. "I did what I felt I had to, and I will leave it at that."

"Well, if you ever feel like telling me what was with you and her in whatever crazy dimension you landed in, let me know. I think it would be quite the interesting story," Ikkaku said.

"I am not here to entertain you, Ikkaku-san. You would be wise to remember that," Hitsugaya drawled.

"Tch. Wise." He nudged the captain lightly, ignoring the glare it got him. "Just saying. It'd be great to know."

"Don't get your hopes up."

(INSERTBREAKHERE)

Baraggan gazed around the city, watching the cars drive by in front of him. He had already seen a few familiar faces in the short time that he had been there, but no one had recognized him, meaning that it really was true. There were exact copies of everyone he knew here, but they led completely different lives from the ones he had once known.

"Most curious indeed."

He looked across the street, analyzing all of the faces. For a moment, he thought he saw Aizen, but when he looked back, there was no one there. Puzzled, he turned away and began walking only to have a hand tap his shoulder. He whirled around, an angry curse on his lips, but he stopped when he saw it was Aizen. Was it the real one, or a fake?

"It seems we have a new playing field." Real.

"It seems we do."

**Oh my gosh it's finally over! Thank god. I loved and hated this story all at once. Thank you everyone who stayed through this story thick and thin. Thank you to my beta, Plain Jane is a Vampire who helped out a lot with some of the earlier chapters. Now, I have a present for all you guys:**

**There will be a sequel. At some point. When I have no clue. ^^' But keep your eyes out for it, because it will be happening. I love Shinji and Ichigo way too much to just leave this how it is. **

**The other present is that I will be redoing all the earlier chapters to make them ten times more awesome, and probably throw in some cute limes just for good measure. :D Be on the look out for that as well. **

**And now I leave you, until the sequel. 3 You guys are amazing. Thank you so so so much for making this story worth writing. **


End file.
